Almost Real
by Dhampir
Summary: Continuing two years after 'Living A Lie', Sasuke and Naruto are still together and Naruto has moved passed his fear of contact, but not everything is as 'perfect' as it looks... SasuNaru-DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Naruto_ nor any of the characters.  
**Note:** This is the sequel to _Living A Lie,_ please read that first before continuing with this story.

* * *

**Almost Real  
**_Chapter One_

Removing the black mask, the man turned his face upwards, his crystalline eyes matching that of the clear blue sky, and sighed. His blonde spikes had grown out to fall around his face and moved slightly in the soft wind. It had been almost two months since he had stepped foot in Konoha…two months since he had seen Sasuke. Sighing, he looked over the village from atop Hokage Mountain and smiled softly, never again would he think of suicide. As long as Sasuke remained beside him, he would be fine.

"I thought you would be here." A soft, but commanding, voice said just before two arms wrapped around him, one around his waist and the other around his chest. Naruto sighed and leaned back into the warm embrace of his lover, moving one hand up to cup the side of Sasuke's face.

"Mmm…I've missed you." He whispered as Sasuke's hand began to move in lazy circles on his chest. Damn, he didn't know just how tired he was until he was resting in Sasuke's arms, giving into the soft treatment as Sasuke continued to rub his chest and knead the tight muscles there. He moaned softly, his eyes closing as he let his body relax and meld into Sasuke's.

Soft lips met his skin, trailing kisses down the side of his neck and leaving a trail of passion behind as Sasuke nipped and kissed at the exposed skin. "I've missed you too." He whispered against his neck, one hand sliding beneath the tight black shirt of Naruto's Anbu uniform to caress the warm skin there. "The bath is running, the bed is made and I've got supper cooking…whenever you're ready to go."

Naruto groaned as deft fingers traced his stomach; Sasuke knew just how to make him relax, no matter what was going on around them. He nodded slightly, letting his head rest against Sasuke's chest and gave into the pleasure those hands were bringing.

----

He barely noticed Sasuke taking them home, stripping him of his dirty uniform and helping him into the bathtub. When he came back to his senses, he was resting on his side between Sasuke's legs, his head lying on Sasuke's stomach and relaxing in the warm water. He moaned deeply and snuggled against his lover, opening his eyes to look up at dark obsidian.

Sasuke smirked down at him, "Finally decided to wake up dobe?" He asked, stroking his damp hair affectionately.

"Mou," Naruto pouted, snuggling closer to his lover, "I haven't seen you in two months and you're already calling me 'dobe'?"

Chuckling, the stoic ninja pulled the smaller man up and wrapped an arm around Naruto's waist while the other slicked back his blonde spikes, settling the hyper ninja on his thigh. "Well, it's the truth." He said before touching his lips to Naruto's softly.

Naruto closed his eyes and let his hands move up to circle around Sasuke's neck as their kiss changed from soft to passionate, it had been too long since they had felt each other so intimately. Two months of worry as they both continued to think about the other. Because of their missions, they couldn't send notes or letters reassuring the other was okay as they usually did and it had been nerve wrecking.

Slipping his tongue inside Naruto's mouth, Sasuke let his hands wander up and down the tone body, feeling every fiber of his lover's body, trying to rediscover everything he already knew as he deepened their kiss. He slowly turned them over so Naruto was on his back in the tub and Sasuke was between his legs. Fingers worshiped tanned skin as Sasuke began to slowly rock back and forth, his mouth savagely attacking at Naruto's and his tongue plundering the mouth beneath him. He felt Naruto bring his arms around his neck, pulling him closer, and felt his blonde lover thrust his hips up against him.

Naruto moaned deep into Sasuke's mouth, his eyes closed as he returned the fervent kiss, his teeth raking slowly over Sasuke's tongue. He wanted more and pushed closer to his lover, spreading his legs wider and groaning as their erections ground against each other. He felt Sasuke's hands trailing down his body, their steady grinding increasing, and felt them slip over his ass and between his legs, gripping his inner thighs.

Without breaking the kiss, Sasuke lifted both of them out of the tub and began making his way blindly towards the bedroom. Naruto wrapped his legs around his hips and began running a hand through his hair as they fought with their tongues. They both knew who would be on top in the end, but Naruto never did submit easily and he did enjoy the fierce kissing.

Letting one arm hold the blonde's ass up, Sasuke let his other hand wander up the exposed back, wet and slick from the water and already cooling beneath his touch, but he could feel the heated skin beneath it. He broke away and didn't even hesitate as he began attacking Naruto's neck, making the blonde gasp out in surprise and then groan.

He sucked on the tanned skin, nipping and licking at it every so often, and rolled Naruto's hips against him, eliciting another moan from the blonde. Two months had been too long without the loud mouthed ninja and he couldn't wait to hear his screams and cries as he slid in and out of the supple body writhing in his arms.

Finally making it to the bed, Sasuke broke away and stared at the mark he had left on Naruto's neck before slowly laying Naruto on his back. Lust filled blue eyes stared up at him, a seductive smile playing on his lips, and he wriggled on the sheets as Sasuke lay down between his legs. Yet the stoic ninja paused, his features softening and those endless black eyes showing an emotion no person except Naruto ever saw.

Cupping the side of Naruto's cheek, Sasuke traced the three scars there with the pad of his thumb. "I love you." He whispered, his eyes never leaving Naruto's.

The sultry smirk was replaced with a soft smile and he leaned up to lightly kiss him. "I love you too Sasuke. I've missed you every day."

He sighed and let his head fall to Naruto's shoulder, nuzzling his neck. "I was worried I'd never see you again…"

"Sasuke…"

Lifting his head back up, Sasuke kissed him passionately and ran his hands up until they slipped behind the blonde's back and gripped his shoulders. Pulling back, Sasuke whispered against Naruto's lips, "Two months is too long without your touch, your voice and your love."

_Where the hell does he come up with words like that?_ Naruto felt his heart melt at Sasuke's voice. The jounin brought up such emotions within him—love, passion, anger, annoyance, desire, sorrow, desperation, longing—and he wondered how he had survived so long without him… Sometimes he could be a real bastard, calling him 'dobe' and making him so angry, but then with a couple simple words Sasuke could make him forget all his previous indiscretions and wipe the slate clean. "Sasuke…" He whispered, leaning up to capture the stoic man's lips.

The kiss was slow and innocent, no tongue or anything passionate about it, just the love they both felt towards each other. Sasuke pulled away first, moving to kiss Naruto's eyes, then his forehead and finally his lips once more. "I want you now, I need you now Naruto." He whispered, his passion returning tenfold as he rocked his hips against his lover.

"Then take me." Naruto said, that knowing smirk returning again. Sasuke loved that smirk, it told him "Fuck me into the bed, hard," as well as "You think I belong to you, but you belong to me."

Running his hands down Naruto's stomach, he kept his eyes trained on Naruto's and let his hands slide to his back and then down his ass. He watched for any signs from his lover of discomfort before tracing and playing with Naruto's entrance, his cock throbbing at the thought of being deep inside his lover once more. It had truly been too long since he had felt the inner walls of Naruto's ass, too long since he had tasted his essence and filled him with his own, too long since he had suckled and bit that tanned skin, and much too long since he had heard that talented voice that could make him cum scream in ecstasy.

"You're moaning…" His partner whispered, snapping Sasuke back to the task at hand: Fuck Naruto.

Licking his suddenly dry lips, Sasuke searched for the lube that should be stored right beneath the pillow and after a couple seconds of fruitless searching, his fingers encased the small tube. "Next thing tomorrow morning, I'm going to get Kakashi to tell me that perverted jutsu he has for finding the damn lube."

Naruto waggled his eyebrows, "Don't you mean _first_ thing tomorrow morning Sasuke?"

"No, I mean next thing tomorrow morning because the first thing would be ravaging you." Sasuke smirked as he slicked three fingers with the gel and began teasing Naruto's entrance.

"You mean molesting me."

"I mean fucking you." He said just as he push two fingers inside, making Naruto hiss and arch his hips off the bed.

"Bastard! You did that on purpose."

"I don't know what you're talking about Naru-chan."

"I told you not to call me that!" He whined, even as he pushed back against Sasuke's fingers.

**Sorry to have to cut it...**

Naruto brought a hand up to cup Sasuke's cheek and smiled up at him, "I've missed you so much Sasuke…" He whispered before kissing him softly.

Sasuke slightly smiled back and pulled out of him, making Naruto groan softly, before slowly laying down between Naruto's legs. He laid his head on his chest and wrapped his arms around Naruto's torso, enjoying the closeness and silence that followed after sex.

"I love you." He murmured, falling to sleep as he petted Sasuke's head.

Sasuke kissed Naruto's chest lightly, "Hn…you too."

----

"Sasuke! You bastard! I've got marks all over my neck and chest and hips and—"

"Ass, yeah I know." Sasuke groaned as he rolled out of bed. Naruto had slipped out earlier to take a shower and apparently discovered all the territorial marks Sasuke had left on him last night.

"I can't go out looking like this!"

"Why not? Everyone already knows about us."

"Hmph." Naruto snorted and disappeared into the bathroom again. Sasuke listened as the shower water was turned on and the rustling of the shower curtain before moving. He had promised to ravage him first thing in the morning…so Naruto would have a couple more marks, couldn't hurt.

----

Glowering, Sasuke stalked down the street, puncture marks showing bright red and purples for anyone to see. Apparently ravaging an already annoyed lover first thing in the morning isn't such a great idea… Naruto hadn't taken well to having another mark added to his collection and decided to leave his own—his bite mark. Well, at least the sex was great.

"Well, looks like someone's been busy."

Sasuke didn't even turn to look at his old teacher now standing behind him. "Kakashi."

"Oi, what'd you do to Naruto for him to do that?" The silver jounin asked, pointing at the mark Naruto had left.

"Ravaged him this morning." Sasuke muttered as he continued to walk into town. They'd been gone for a couple months and so were out of the basic necessities of life—ramen, toilet paper, light bulbs, ramen, chicken, cleaning supplies, flour, rice and fruit. There was also shampoo, conditioner, soap, shaving cream, razors, new towels, sponges and a dozen other things he knew they'd need sooner or later.

"Ah, yeah, they don't always like that, especially if you already did that the night before."

"I didn't ravage him last night, I fucked him."

Kakashi chuckled and shook his head, "You'll never change Sasuke. Well, there's a dolphin waiting for me to take care of him so I'll see you around. Welcome back." He waved slightly and then disappeared from Sasuke's sight, leaving the young jounin alone before the store.

He grabbed a cart and began searching through the aisles, picking up random items and everything he had listed in his head. He sighed as he began down the ramen aisle and began pulling two or three of each kind off the shelf. He couldn't believe that the blonde idiot wanted ramen again, after he had told him five years ago he hated that shit and only ate it because it was affordable.

_"Yeah, but that was years ago! I used to like it, but after eating it for ten years, you do get sick of it. But I want ramen now, come on, Sasuke, get me some ramen! Please? Please, please, please, please?"_

Ah, that's right, it's not sickening anymore. Scrunching his nose, he quickly left the aisle after his cart was half full of ramen cups and moved to pick up a gallon of milk and some cream for the coffee he knew he was going to be needing later. Naruto's hyper activeness quickly drained him of his energy and if he wasn't careful, he'd find himself asleep with only half the day gone. _I'm becoming like Shikamaru…_

"Sasuke! You're back!" A shrill voice called and Sasuke turned to look at his old teammate Sakura. Well, he'd be here for a while, he hoped Naruto could wait for his breakfast…

* * *

Humming, Naruto went about showering—again—and getting ready for the day. There were so many people he wanted to see today and greet; there was Hinata, Sakura, Shika, Ino, Lee, Kiba, Shino, Iruka, Kakashi, Ero-sanin, Choji and Baa-chan and so many others he was losing count. Itachi was out on some mission but Mina and their children were still here and he wanted to visit them as well. 

He turned the water off and stepped out of the bathroom, still humming happily as he toweled off. He sighed at all the different marks and his sore ass Sasuke had given him, but he couldn't help but smile as he thought about his cool lover. He had always thought Sasuke would eventually get tired of him and want to leave, but it had been four years since they had become a couple and two since they became lovers and he was still right there next to him. Over the years, Sasuke had lost all signs of his childlike attributes and had grown beyond beautiful—ebony locks and startling black eyes that could reflect the stars if he looked upon them made him handsome, but it was his ivory skin and medium build that made him stunning.

He grinned as he thought about all the women who were devastated when Sasuke had chosen him over them and felt the pride within him well up. Sasuke had chosen him over every woman who had ever thrown themselves at his feet; he hadn't even given them a second look as he took Naruto as his boyfriend and then his lover. Sasuke didn't seem to care a single bit that he would never have children or start a family, he only ever seemed to care about him—Naruto.

Wrapping his towel around his waist, he moved into the bedroom, wondering what he should wear and looking through his sparse collection of clothes. He reached out for a deep orange shirt when a sharp pain made him recoil. He stumbled back and gripped his stomach as a painful moan escaped his lips. "No…not again." He whispered as his heartbeat became erratic and the room began to spin around him. Chakra swirled through his system, becoming faster and more unstable with each passing second, but there was nothing he could do about that…

Bracing himself on the wall, Naruto closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath, willing his heart to slow and his chakra to obey him. He could feel the beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he fought the increasing pain as well as the rising panic. This had only happened twice before, but he couldn't understand it, those two times were because of the excessive build up in his chakra and he just got back from his mission hours ago. There shouldn't be an excessive amount of chakra running through his body.

Naruto fell to one knee and began to pant, his muscles trembling from spasmodic pains coming every four seconds. He couldn't understand what was causing these weird attacks that had started about a month ago, but he knew there was nothing significant that had happened to him at that time. His first onset of this had been when he was scouting for his team and the second was two weeks before the mission ended—again, nothing out of the ordinary except that he suddenly lost control of his chakra and filled with pain.

He waited there for ten minutes, regulating his breath and keeping his senses focused on controlling his chakra. Even after four years, they didn't know very much about his new chakra—the ebony color that made Kyuubi as well was as unique as the Uchiha's bloodline and no one understood it. He knew how to draw chakra from the ground itself as well as from Kyuubi, but if he tried to draw chakra from someone else, the experience was painful for both he and the giver. Yet if he drew too much chakra from the ground, the earth would die and the soil would become useless and it was the opposite affect if he sent his chakra into the ground.

Finally feeling his heart slow and the chakra recede, Naruto opened his eyes and slowly stood up, still breathing heavily and now quite sweaty. He wiped his brow with his free hand and then stretched his sore muscles toweling off again. He took a couple staggering steps before he regained his balance and was able to slide a pair of boxers on before he heard the front door open.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, carrying a bag of ramen as well as six other bags of assorted groceries.

Plastering a smile on his face, Naruto bounded into the living room and said enthusiastically, "Sasuke! You got the ramen, right? Please tell me you got ramen!"

The stoic ninja threw the bag at him and rolled his eyes at Naruto's childish behavior, yet there was still a small smile on his lips that refused to go away—at least until he saw his lover's fumbled catch. The toss had been easy enough and light enough and he knew Naruto should have no trouble with it, but concern filled his eyes as the blonde's fingers closed around the bag slowly and caused the bag to slip out of his hands and onto the floor.

"Whoops…" Naruto laughed, bending down to pick up the bag of sixteen ramen cups.

"What's wrong?"

Frowning cutely, Naruto looked up at his lover and asked, "What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong."

"You missed an easy catch and you winced as you knelt down." He pointed out.

"Oh. I was just working out and got a little tired, I still haven't completely recovered from my mission--or last night--" he added quietly, "and pushed myself a little too hard."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes dangerously, he knew what Naruto said probably had some truth to it, but he also knew that his boyfriend could bounce back within hours and a mission he returned from yesterday shouldn't faze him at all today. "Come here." He ordered softly, his tone leaving no room to object.

Hesitating momentarily, Naruto walked towards his lover and melted into Sasuke's arms as they wrapped around waist. "I'm fine Sasuke, really." He said, answering the silent question Sasuke was asking him.

"I know you better than anyone else in this village and I know you don't take days to recover from a mission like others Naruto, so tell me what's really wrong."

Sighing, Naruto fought the urge to just tell his love the truth. If he told him, then Sasuke would worry over him and it would just cause them both unnecessary grief and worry. "I'm mentally exhausted Sasuke, I can't think straight and I just…feel worn out even though I know I'm not." He said, nuzzling the Uchiha's neck and breathing in his scent.

Sasuke's grip tightened around him for a moment before he released the blonde, moving back to look straight into Naruto's crystalline eyes. "I don't want to lose you Naruto, I almost lost you once," he whispered, speaking about Naruto's suicide attempt, "and I never want to feel so…lost ever again. So tell me the truth, no matter what it may be."

"I'm just tired love," he answered, cupping the side of Sasuke's cheek, "that's all."

"Well, I guess all that 'hard' thinking must've bruised your brain." Sasuke said, trying to lighten the mood.

Punching him in the arm, Naruto made a face and picked up the ramen bag behind him. "Bastard."

"And you wouldn't have me any other way."

"Actually, I'd have you with whipped cream all over you and a cherry on top, but I do desire my life so I guess I'll have to settle for the bastard instead." Naruto drawled as he swaggered into the kitchen.

Sasuke scowled at his lover's back as he followed the blonde and huffed, falling into his chair with both arms crossed. "Just make your tasteless ramen."

"It's not tasteless and how dare you insult my ramen!" He exclaimed, pointing a dripping pair of chopsticks at him.

"This coming from the dobe who told me that ramen was disgusting and he hated it."

"That was years ago! Tastes change." He said, putting the cup in for three minutes.

"Yes, I do believe mine's changing to red heads instead of blonde dobes."

"Well, you and Gaara do have so much in common…"

The scowl darkened, "I have nothing in common with that psychopath."

Naruto looked him up and down very slowly before saying, "Sure you don't."

"Usurai."

"I love you." He sang, hoping he could change Sasuke's rapidly approaching 'annoyed' mood.

He snorted, but after a moment's silence said, "You too."

"Want some ramen too?"

"I don't eat that shit."

"Don't insult my ramen!"

"'You are what you eat.'" He said with a shrug.

"Are you saying I'm shit?"

"I believe that's correct."

The ding of the microwave interrupted whatever insult was going to fly from his mouth and Naruto quickly removed the chicken ramen and breathed in the savor aroma. "Ah, ramen…" He almost moaned as he hopped up onto the counter—still in his boxer's—and stirred the contents of his ramen cup with a pair of chopsticks.

Sasuke leaned one elbow on the counter and smiled softly at his lover, it looked like Naruto was pretty much back to normal. He had worried him earlier, but maybe he was just being a mother hen again and there really wasn't anything to worry about. After all, this is _Naruto_ he's thinking about, the blonde never comes out with a scratch and he has an unlimited amount of chakra at his disposal if need be. Of course there was nothing to worry about, he had his little blonde fox back within arm's reach and he was just overreacting again—everything was perfect.

Dhampir  
Page 11  
07/11/05

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Well, would you look at that, I finished the first chapter… Sorry it took so long everyone, I've been working on my other stories and between my 'real' life (a.k.a: Boyfriend, full time job, friends and family) I've had very little time to write. 

So anyway, here's the first chapter of _Almost Real_ I hope you guys liked it and it's up to you expectations, hehe. I thought since you all waited twenty six chapters for a lemon scene I'd give you one right off the bat, just for you all. Though since it had to be cut you missed most of the comedy as well as the sex…

Okay, now I'm rambling, just a **big thank you to everyone who reviewed, criticized, corrected and became friends with me all the way through _Living A Lie._ **

Also, if you want the uncut version, e-mail me: It's listed in my profile without having to click on the link--or AIM me at Dhampyr17. Hope it was up to your expectations and hopefully you'll like where I'm going with this...

**Also, if you haven't gotten to read the lemon scene from "Living A Lie" and wish to, it can be found here:** http/adultfan. nexcess. net/aff/story. php?no544177991&chapter26 **(Just take the spaces after the periods out...)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Naruto_ nor any of the characters.  
**Note:** This is the sequel to _Living A Lie_, so please read that first or a lot of what is happening will not be understood.  
**Reading Note:** For my sanity I've placed - - - meaning paragraph break, you know like hitting enter twice. It's just too unbroken as it is and I can't change it because ff is being mean.

* * *

**Almost Real  
**_Chapter Two_

Naruto stared up at the plain white ceiling, once more wishing Sasuke would let him do something to it, anything! He didn't care if it was a nice paint job or just some splattered food, dirt or even cum, but the clean whiteness of it was driving him insane. Maybe it was because he was used to his old apartment where the paint was pealing away to reveal those nasty yellow marks where the rain water leaked through, but the point was he couldn't take the same ceiling every day.

He sighed and looked over at the long gone cold space beside him that had once contained the body of his Sasuke, but that bastard had decided to abandon him in the early hours of morning and leave him all alone. Damn it, it had been their second night together in _months_ and the first thing he can think of is to go debrief Hokage-sama on his return and physical shape. The sun had long since risen and yet he refused to leave his bed, he wanted to lounge around all day and _play around_ with Sasuke, but of course it's hard to play with Sasuke when he's not there.

- - -

Pouting, the blonde finally slid out of the bed and pulled on a pair of orange lounge pants, he was going to lounge with or without Sasuke and there was no way in hell that bastard was going to spoil his lazy day. Yet he had gotten only ten feet within the door before he was tackled to the ground by a body of long black hair and pale skin. "Uncle Naruto!" Yui cried as she stared down at him with shining black eyes, her smile practically reaching ear to ear.

"Hey girlie, how've you been?" He asked with a grin, no matter how many times Itachi told them to stay out of their house without permission, they always came tumbling into their room and into their arms. He knew either Itachi or Mielin would be here soon scolding their ten year old daughter to get off him and to knock before entering, but it wouldn't work, never did.

"You're finally back! Why didn't you tell us yesterday?" She asked, her bottom lip coming out in a pout, damn she had learned that too well from him. She looked utterly cute like that.

"Ah, I was tired sweetie, I had to catch up on my sleep and Uncle Sasuke and I had to…talk for a while." He said.

"You mean scream." She giggled, making Naruto's mouth drop open in shock and jolt into the sitting position. "You're really loud when Uncle Sasuke and you are alone, Uncle Naruto."

"I told you to be quieter, dobe." A smooth voice said and cerulean met depthless black. Sasuke leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest and dressed in the complete black attire of his Anbu uniform.

"Uncle Sasuke!" Yui cried as she launched herself at the man, hugging him tightly around the waist. Sasuke patted her head and knelt down to give her a proper hug and kiss on her forehead before standing up again.

"Your mother was calling for you Yui, something about helping with cooking?" He asked, raising a slender eyebrow.

"Oh!" She gasped, "I completely forgot, I've been here all morning waiting for Uncle Naruto to wake up!" Then she was gone out the door and up to the main house, leaving the two alone.

Naruto shook his head and stood with a chuckle. He looked up at Sasuke's wistful expression and was immediately struck with a sense of grief. Hesitantly, he approached his lover and placed at hand on his shoulder, making the taller man turn. "Do you…ever regret giving up a family, Sasuke?" He whispered, fearful yet needing the answer.

The expression immediately disappeared as Sasuke gathered the blonde into his arms and held him there, shaking his head. "No! No Naruto, I don't regret it for a second."

Returning the embrace, he let out a relieved sigh and relaxed into his lover's arms. "But you look at them so…yearningly. Don't you wish you had children of your own?"

"Sometimes," Sasuke admitted after a moment, "but having you is all I need. I wouldn't have children even if I weren't with you Naruto, because I wouldn't be with anyone else. I love you, _you_, and children or not, I don't regret a single day of my life with you."

Naruto smiled and nuzzled Sasuke's neck, relishing in the warmth of the other. "You know, it would've been possible at one time. Kyuubi told me, with his chakra we could've had a child, but that would've been before we separated. Now that we're no longer linked, it's not a possibility…"

"And what about you?"

"I wanted a child once. I just wanted someone I could love and raise not to hate me, someone I could hold and be loved by, but then I found you instead. And a child raised by the Kyuubi container would've been hated anyway…no matter who's it really was."

Sasuke pulled back slightly and kissed the blonde on the head softly. "No one could hate anyone as compassionate and beautiful as you."

He chuckled lightly, "Tell that to _the—_"

Silencing him with a supple kiss, Sasuke stroked the side of Naruto's face with his knuckles, "Don't bring that up, we promised that it would be in the past, Naruto, and that's where it would stay."

"Sorry…" He whispered, his head dropping slightly. Sasuke was right, like always, but he just couldn't keep it in the past. When four people gang rape you, it's hard to forget it or not let it affect you and Naruto knew that best. There were still nights when he awoke from vivid nightmares and looming faces, but he was usually able to keep them at bay.

Sasuke scooped Naruto into his arms and walked towards the bed, Naruto laughing lightly at being carried bridal style. Laying the blonde down, Sasuke slid onto the bed and hugged Naruto's waist, pulling him close. "If you really want a child, we can adopt one. It may not look like us or be our blood, but it will still be ours."

"It 'suke?"

He snorted, "She or he, whatever."

- - -

Snuggling closer and pressing his back against Sasuke's chest, Naruto purred and closed his eyes. This was what he wanted to do all day, not lay around in an empty bed, but cuddle with the man behind him and maybe do a little more. "Where'd you go this morning?" He asked after a moment's silence.

"To report to Hokage-sama."

"And…"

"She wants you in her office by tonight."

He turned his head slightly and looked at his lover, "By tonight."

"She knows there's no way she'll be getting you out of bed yet." Sasuke deadpanned, "Unless she wants to reduce to bribery."

"Nope, there's no moving me from this bed, I am now anchored here and not moving one inch."

"Are you certain?"

The blonde nodded, "Never."

"Then I guess training is out of the question."

"…yeah."

"And ramen?"

Another pause, "Yeah."

"And swimming?"

"……yes." Though he sounded anything but happy.

Sasuke sighed and buried his face into Naruto's hair. "Then I guess sex is out of the question too."

His lover made a whimpering noise, but stayed where he was. Stubborn as always, Naruto refused to budge no matter what Sasuke said or did, even if wished the warm breath on his neck was on a different part of his anatomy.

- - -

Naruto remained quiet and still for a good two hours, despite Sasuke's fingers tickling his stomach and his legs intertwined with his own. The raging hard on he had received from their close proximity remained untouched as Naruto remained stead fast in what he said, not moving a single inch from where he was. Yet as the day continued, he began to squirm and a small pained voice finally whispered, "Sasuke?"

Opening an eye, he looked at Naruto's turned face. "Hmm?"

"I gotta pee."

Light laughter filled the room as Naruto jumped from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.

------------

Whistling, Naruto clasped his hands behind his back and walked through the streets, a large smile on his face and Sasuke by his side, quiet as ever. To anyone else, it would look as if the Anbu captain was furious and brooding, but Naruto could see the amused glint in his eyes and the small turn of his lips that outlined a smile.

"Naruto!" Someone yelled from behind them and the blonde looked over his shoulder at Iruka several feet back, Kakashi walking slowly behind him.

"Hi!" Naruto yelled back, waving wildly until Sasuke grabbed his arm lightly but firmly and pulled it back down.

"Stop embarrassing me—again." He muttered but didn't release Naruto's hand immediately, letting his lover know he wasn't truly angry.

"Aw com'on Sasuke, I'm just having a little fun."

Snorting, Sasuke nodded to his two previous senseis and crossed his arms, silently telling them he was in no mood to chat.

"Yo," Kakashi said, smiling with his eyes, "what's up?"

"Well, I just got back from my mission and Sasuke's dragging me to go talk with the old hag about it, you know, debriefing and that shit." The blonde sighed, "I don't know why someone else from my team can't do it. I mean, I thought the higher up you get the less work it was, but hell, all I ever get is _more_ work."

"Part of being an Anbu captain Naruto." Iruka said, one of the few people to know the truth about the hyperactive man. Even now, he was practically bouncing in his spot, not being able to keep still for the life of him and always needing something to do. He was always rambunctious, but everyone thought that would pass as he matured, how wrong they were. Naruto might not cause trouble all the time, but he was still as full of energy as he was when he was younger and there were still the constant pranks he pulled on his boyfriend every chance he got.

"Yeah, I know, I know, but still! It's so stupid."

"How did the mission go anyway?" Kakashi asked, his eyes raking up and down Naruto's body for any injuries.

"Great! Not a scratch on me or my team and the objective was carried out, though…there were some unseen events." He said, his voice dropping to a low whisper as the memories filled his head.

Sasuke frowned, Naruto hadn't told him anything about 'unseen events' and his sudden change in disposition worried him. Was this why he was so weak last night? He didn't completely believe his lover's excuse though there was no way he could dispute it either, but now this? "What happened?" He finally asked when no one else would.

Naruto wrapped his arms around himself, a look of dread coming into his eyes. "There were children…young children."

"Children?" He pressed, they were used to dealing with so called 'children' and even some that were innocent deaths, but there was something different about this.

"Yeah."

Iruka frowned, "But what about them?"

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but stopped and shook his head. "Look, Tsunade-sama's waiting for me, I gotta go debrief her." Naruto looked at Sasuke momentarily before turning away and slowly walking towards the Hokage's office.

The three watched him leave silently, their heads full of questions at Naruto's odd and sudden change of behavior. In an unspoken agreement, the three men went their separate ways, leaving Sasuke to unearth the reason behind his lover's silence. Yet there was one thing that bothered him more than Naruto's reluctance to speak and that was his eyes: Haunted, dark and filled with pain.

--------------------------

Naruto walked into Tsunade's office without even knocking on the door, earning him a well placed thump on the head and then a tight bear hug. The two quickly caught up on their lives and what they had missed, but after an hour of light pleasantries, Tsunade finally turned to the task at hand. The mission.

"Report?" She asked, settled behind her desk with a folder in front of her. She flipped through the different papers, skimming each one and the report on Naruto's team's health.

"Everything went according to plan, the targets were eliminated without notice or sound. They weren't that skilled and had low level shinobi guarding their hide out, most likely mercenaries." He said, his eyes hard and unreadable (a trait he had learned from Sasuke) and his voice revealing no emotion. "The…subjects were returned into the care of their previous guardian and pictures were taken, they should be back within the day. How or why they were kidnapped is still unknown, but the kidnappers are gone and dead—painfully."

Tsunade looked up and saw a flash of anger behind those clear blue eyes, surprising her. She studied the boy she thought of as a brother and finally said, "Is there anything else you want to add Naruto?"

A slight pause was all she needed to know there was more, but the blonde shook his head, "No, there's nothing more."

"Then you're dismissed and given a week's rest—and I mean for you to really take it this time Naruto." She ordered. Naruto had a knack for talking his way into other missions and taking on more than he could handle, even if he had half of Kyuubi's abilities. She never really understood his want to push himself to the limit and, unfortunately, it wasn't hard for the 'Black Wolf' to talk his way into a mission, especially with the reputation he had. Not even Naruto's own team knew who he really was outside of that mask, he took extra precautions to make certain of that too.

"Hai, hai." He muttered as he shuffled out of the office, closing the doors behind him.

- - -

Looking up, Naruto was met with two pairs of eyes, one black and one green. He quickly composed himself and pushed away the thoughts of that mission, smiling at his two companions. "Sakura, how've you been?"

The pink haired woman smiled back and gave Naruto a quick hug and peck on the cheek. "I'm better, I was on my way to see Tsunade-sama when I saw Sasuke-kun standing out here, looking about to kill anything that moved I might add."

He laughed "When does he not look about to kill something?"

"When I'm looking to ravish you." Sasuke growled, disgruntled at the appearance of their old time friend. He wanted to get Naruto somewhere quiet and secluded and question the blonde until he finally told him what the hell happened on that mission. He knew there was something, something that rattled his blonde lover deeply, and he was going to find it out. Even just looking at him was all the proof he needed to see there was definitely a problem, Naruto's mouth was set in a grave line when he was listening to Sakura talk and even when he smiled there was a strain in his lips that had never been there before. The hard eyes was another clue to a deeply rooted problem, Naruto expressed emotion through his eyes, it was his greatest weakness and he had spent months perfecting Sasuke's impassive stare, but he only used it when there was something of great significance or pain that he wanted to hide.

Lastly, the fingers tangled in his shirt, worrying over the fabric, was the strongest clue. Only when his lover was agitated or distressed to the point of nightmares did he look for something tangible to hold onto. Now thinking about it though, Sasuke noted that last night Naruto had held onto him as if he were a lifeline, his grip almost bruising in his sleep. It hadn't been like that since Naruto awoke in the hospital five years ago after being beaten down by the villagers.

"Sasuke!" Sakura gasped at his sudden words.

Sniggering, Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck and pressed their groins flush against each other. "Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah," he said as he let his hands stray to the blonde's hips. "Mind if we go home for a couple…oh, hours I'd say?"

Naruto practically moaned at the silent promise. "Yes, yes, please."

He could feel his lover's anatomy awakening at the mere thought and his own now stirring as images of Naruto's heated skin pressed beneath his and that loud voice screaming his name. Maybe he could hold off on the questions until afterwards… "We'll talk later Sakura, I've got a boyfriend to keep happy."

"Yeah, a grumpy Naruto is not one you want to cross." She laughed, well used to their use of public affection as well as their libidos. Yet there was a hint of sadness there as well, she had only gotten to see Sasuke for maybe a total of six minutes and Naruto even less. As much as she complained about them, she had missed the two shinobi greatly, especially since the passing of her husband, Rock Lee.

Catching the difference in her voice, Naruto pulled away and blinked twice with those big blue eyes. "Are you sure Sakura? I mean…I know he passed only a couple months ago and we really haven't seen each other in a while and—"

"Uzumaki Naruto," she chided, "I'm quite capable of continuing on without Lee and as much as I miss him, there's nothing I can do about that. As for spending time with you two, I would love to, but when your cocks are up and saying hi, it's almost impossible to keep either one of your attention for longer than half a minute. Go have your fun and then we'll go out to dinner and catch up on times, okay?"

He gave her a small smile; she really did know them well, maybe too well. They had tried it before, that is trying to ignore their dicks tenting their pants, but though it was possible, it was painful for everyone. With the two of them making eyes at each other all night and teasing each other with licks of their lips or some other movement, it was practically impossible to keep the conversation clean or on subject. "Okay, that's a promise then."

Picking up the blonde bridal style once more, Sasuke nodded once to their old teammate and then disappeared from outside Tsunade's doorway with a small puff of smoke.

----------------------------

Stroking back the sweat slick hair, once blonde, Sasuke stared down at his sated and panting lover, those beautiful blue eyes half closed and sleep filled. Naruto lazily smiled at him and kissed his chin before snuggling into Sasuke's side, despite they were both quite hot and sticky—not to mention sweaty. Settling beside him, Sasuke wrapped his arms protectively around Naruto's middle and held him close.

"Naruto."

"Hmm?" A half asleep answer came.

Sasuke breathed in his lover's scent, fresh mountain air and autumn, "You know I'll protect you always, right?"

"Of course I do."

"And that you can tell me anything?" He pressed.

Turning in Sasuke's arms, he frowned, wide awake, and ran a hand across Sasuke's forehead and down his cheek. "What's wrong love?"

"I want to know what happened Naruto."

Confusion filled his eyes. "Huh?"

"What happened that night…your mission? Tell me." He pleaded softly, even more concerned as he saw that haunted look return.

Naruto buried his face into his ashen chest, shaking his head lightly. "Please don't Sasuke, please, just leave it alone."

"I can't. You're having nightmares again, aren't you?"

He didn't speak but gave a slight nod and gripped Sasuke's back tightly.

"Am I not your lover? Am I not your boyfriend, your partner…your soul mate Naruto?"

"Of course you are! I love you more than…than ramen or being Captain!"

Trying not to chuckle at his choices, Sasuke pulled his lover closer and was surprised to find him beginning to tremble. "Naru-chan?"

"The children, gods Sasuke, the children!" He whispered, his voice almost ghostly as he spoke. "There were so many a-and the blood and everything! So much blood…shit Sasuke, I can't do this."

"Do what?"

"Don't make me tell you, I can't." His voice sinking to a light whisper.

Sasuke pulled back far enough to see Naruto's face and covered his own fear when he saw those silent tears track down his lover's cheeks. "Naruto, please, please try. I'm…afraid, I'm afraid for you."

Closing his eyes, Naruto took a shuddering breath and brought back that horrible memory from that night. "It was a simple assassination mission…"

_—Flashback—_

_Naruto dropped to the ground before the fallen ninjas. True ninjas—not renegades or fugitives—from the Earth Country, interesting, he was certain Tsunade-baba would want to know about this immediately. With a flick of his wrist, he sent one of his subordinates back to Konoha, and of course that subordinate just happened to be Kyuubi. He knew that the giant black fox had noticed exactly what he had and though the demon could speak to anyone, they were still able to speak only between their minds. Though it hadn't been proven, they believed it was because they had spent so many years together that their brainwaves just synchronized with each other and allowed such communication. _

-Be careful kit, there's something…wrong here.-

-I agree,-_ Naruto nodded,_ -something doesn't quite add up and I sense death, though blood hasn't been spilled. Why?-

-I would like to know as well, but if the Earth Country is planning war, Hokage-sama must know immediately.-

-Right, I'll take care of this old friend, you just get your black furry ass back to Konoha and report.-

-And you get yours home.- _Black eyes stared into blue and then in a blur of speed, the fox became one with the shadows and sped back to Konoha as Naruto asked. _

_The Wolf Anbu motioned his team forward and hesitantly approached the door to the small fortress before them. If it could be called a fortress, an abandoned cabin that was falling apart was a poor example of one. Another flick of his wrist had two of his team circling to the back of the cabin and another flattened against the side next to the door. _

_- - -_

_Word had come two days ago that several disappearances had happened all within close range of each other—seven were taken from a local orphanage only a day's travel from Konoha. Naruto did a quick tally in his head again and frowned behind his mask, sixteen people were missing and all children between the ages of ten and fourteen. Who the kidnapper was remained a mystery though nine villages had been struck within a single week. The towns had decided to call in Konoha's Anbu to handle it and insisted upon the famed Black Wolf and his team to return their children. _

_Naruto had taken the mission immediately, more for the orphaned children than the others since he too was an orphan. He and his team—with Kyuubi's help—had tracked the men to this cabin somewhere on the edge of the Fire Country and quickly formulated a plan a mile away. There were only two shinobi standing guard and his team had easily taken them down without even making the slightest sound. He had ordered they remain alive and under tight watch to be escorted back to Konoha, but that didn't mean they couldn't harm them. _

_- - -_

_Looking over his shoulder, he was pleased to see Shikamaru tying the two shinobi up and taking position to watch them. That lazy nin was one of their best strategists and a damn good ninja, but being lazy kept him from taking a team of his own, something about it just being too troublesome. So instead, Naruto requested he be placed on his team along with Tenten as both would be valuable to his team. _

_He turned his attention back to the mission, just go in, assassinate the kidnapper and return the children to their villages. Simple, right? Carefully turning the door knob, Naruto slowly opened the door and called up his chakra foxes, sending them in for recon. After a moment of silence, Naruto carefully walked in, finding his foxes sniffing the air and their tails slowly moving behind them. He motioned Tenten to follow him in and knelt down beside his foxes, patting their heads and watching them to see what they did. _

_"It's empty." Tenten whispered beside him, her falcon mask leaving her mouth exposed. The other two arrived from the side rooms and gave the same report. _

_Naruto frowned, "Shinobi wouldn't guard an empty house…" Standing, he slowly began to walk around the room, his eyes searching for any clue to where the kidnapper went and something in the back of his head nagging him—this just wasn't right. It wasn't even large enough to hold sixteen children. His foxes sniffed the air and began to walk the room as well, searching for something neither could see. _

_"Maybe they knew we were coming?"_

_"No, impossible."_

_Jurion sighed, "It doesn't even look touched Captain, there's dust in all the rooms." _

_Naruto paused, "Dust…" He looked around and saw the man was right, practically everything was covered in dust except for the floor. He scanned the wooden floor, going over every crevice, every plank and crack he saw before pausing just before the cool hearth. Kneeling down, he tapped the wood and smirked at the hollow sound he received, his fingers straying to trace the now easily spotted line. At first glance the trap door looked just like the floor, the cuts made so finely they were barely noticeable above the other crevices, and the ornately made handle at the foot of the hearth gave away nothing. The dragon's head looked like nothing more than something someone added to the hearth's already archaic design._

_"It's wired." Tenten said from behind him, looking over his shoulder. _

_He nodded and eased away from the trap door, sending Jurion out to retrieve Shikamaru. "They most likely already know we're here, but it's still better to know what we're dealing with than just blindly going into it." _

_The lazy jounin arrived moments later and knelt beside him, his eyes immediately falling on the trap door and the wire running down one side of the crevice. His eyes were blank through the bear mask, but they all knew he was thinking when he placed his hands together. "It'll be connected to the handle and probably either set with explosives or some kind of scroll ninjitsu or genjutsu."_

_"Chakra charged?"_

_Shikamaru shook his head, "Without Neji, I won't be able to tell." _

_"All right, I want everyone out of here now." Naruto ordered, standing up slowly._

_Tenten only had to look at him to know what he was going to do. "You can't—"_

_"I said out." He repeated, his voice a little more commanding than before. "I can handle this fine, but I need the rest of you to help me in another way—and keep this between us five, understood?"_

_After a pause, Shikamaru stood and nodded, "Hai," the others following soon after. _

_Leaving the cabin with the other three in toe, Naruto knelt down and studied the two unconscious nins. "Shika and Yuki, take these two to Hokage-sama. Tenten, Jurion, I want you to infiltrate the Earth Country and find out any information on these two you can without letting yourselves be known. We still don't know if they're planning war or not." _

_"Hai Captain." Jurion said, smiling at Tenten, who wore a grim expression as she nodded as well. They all knew their captain could take better care of himself than he sometimes let on, but it didn't stop them from worrying. _

_Yuki bit her lip, she was always the silent type, and nodded as well, certain Naruto knew best. Untying the two nins, she picked up the lightest one and began her way back to Konoha, not even waiting to see if Shikamaru would follow or not. _

_"If you see Kitsune, tell him to return here." Naruto said to his friend before turning back to the cabin. He could hear Shikamaru sigh and shift to lift the man before disappearing behind Yuki. His last two teammates waited another minute before leaving for their own mission in the Earth Country, leaving him alone to complete the mission._

_- - -_

_Naruto stepped into the cabin once more and motioned his foxes over, "Drain it, if possible." He whispered and watched as the two identical foxes bounded towards the hearth, chakra sparking with each step they took. Using the same concept he used to split him and Kyuubi into separate being, he was able to do the same with his foxes, except they were still bound to him and followed only his command. To his team, he had learned how to do this from Kyuubi—or Kitsune as they knew him—and only Shikamaru had guessed who their Captain was behind the mask. Thankfully, Shikamaru was the lazy bum he had always been and kept his mouth shut on the count that it was just too troublesome to deal with. The others believed only what they saw: Naruto was a loud mouth ninja who had achieved the rank of Jounin and did solo missions while their Captain, the Black Wolf of Konoha, remained as much of a mystery as he had been since he appeared._

_Watching quietly, his two foxes circled he trap door, inspecting the wire and wood before returning to their Master's side. Blue eyes gazed up at Naruto and told him everything he needed to know despite the lack of words. The foxes were a part of him and who better to understand them than himself? "Good." He whispered, once more kneeling beside the trap door to open it. _

_The wood creaked awfully as he dragged the door back to reveal a set of stairs leading down into the depths of darkness. He glanced over his shoulder at his foxes and dispersed them with a wave of his hand, calling on his more keen senses to lead him through the dark stairwell. Moving slowly and silently, Naruto slid down the stairs, his back against the wall and a kunai in one hand. He could barely see two feet in front of him and had to feel his way down, each foot sliding silently across the edge of a stair and to the next. _

_As he moved closer to the end of the stairs, light slowly flooded the stairwell and he could barely make out small noises. He froze when he heard the quiet sobs coming from below and muttered words that sounded like "mama" and "please don't". Hardening his eyes, Naruto continued downward and finally stood at the base of the stairs before what looked like a large prison corridor. The hall ran twice the length of the cabin and was lined with old cells, metal barred and padlock locks. Yet it wasn't the faces staring at him from those cells, it was the blood that ran across the concrete floor, staining it red._

_Naruto stood horrified at the sight of gaunt faces and naked, starved and abused bodies. "Shit." The old memories he had buried so many times came flooding back as he saw himself once more at the mercy of those men. Stumbling into the wall, he closed his eyes against the horror before him and faced his own, pushing it away again and fighting down the vomit in his throat. The stench alone was enough to make him gag, but the children in such a horrid state had made him dizzy and disoriented, his own fears resurfacing. _

_"Sir! Sir, please help us." A young boy called and Naruto guessed he could be no older than twelve as his thin arm reached out to him, begging him to help. _

_He quickly crossed over to him and grasped the hand, squeezing it lightly and nodding, "I'll get you out of here, I promise. Where's the one who did this to you?" He asked, his eyes quickly noting the state of the child. Bruises covered his skin, lacerations that he was certain were made from a knife marked his stomach and chest as well as the crusted blood that had ran down the inside of his legs made Naruto wonder if the boy would make it. _

_Licking his chapped lips, the boy jerked his head down the corridor, still holding onto Naruto's hand as his salvation. "T-they've…" he looked away, disgusted and angry that he let it happen to him._

_Naruto clasped the boy's hand with his other hand, "I know, I understand."_

_Startled brown eyes looked up as his meaning sunk in. "You too?"_

_He nodded, "Hai, me too." Then letting go of the boy's hand, Naruto pulled out another four kunai and started down the corridor, ready to kill the bastards who did this to them. He counted the children as he went, some cells held one child while others held seven or eight, all shoved into a single bed cell. Needy hands reached out to him, whispered pleas reached his ears and those eyes pleaded for him to help them, save them. There were more than the sixteen reported, by the time he had reached the end, he had counted at least twenty nine, all malnourished and showing signs of sexual abuse. _

_He finally reached the end of the corridor and was once more faced with a door, one he could decide to open or leave closed. Leaving and taking the children with him was a simple choice, an easy choice, but he knew he couldn't leave it there. Kakashi had been the one who had killed his rapists, his nightmares, and he would be these children's avenger for it was obvious they couldn't avenge themselves. _

_- - -_

_His hand trembled as he reached for the door, though if it was because of fear or anger he couldn't be certain, but that didn't matter. Slamming the door open, his eyes blazing with rage, he stared at the three men surrounding a single woman chained to the wall, her shoulders slumped with exhaustion. The small, paper thin cuts on her exposed breasts were more painful than deep, but the chafed skin around her wrists were white with infection. _

_"You…" He growled, his hands balling into tight fists and his teeth clenching together as he spat through his teeth, "You fucking bastards! They're children!" With a speed only few had seen, Naruto crossed the distance between he and the chained woman and turned to face the men. "What sick psychotic fucks are you?" _

_"Who the hell do you think you are?" One man growled, holding a whip in his hands. He looked the youngest of the three and the coldest as he stood there uncaring of the woman crying behind them. _

_"Why do I need to give my name to someone who's about to die?" He asked, eyes glinting dangerously behind the black mask._

_"I do not believe that will be the case, Anbu." The man snapped his fingers and the two men charged towards a startled Naruto. He hadn't thought these men would recognize an Anbu, but that man was different…he was like _them.

_Naruto's gaze didn't even leave him as he released two kunai, the metal tearing through their throats and severing their jugular veins. He barely even noticed as both men gripped at the wound and fell to the ground lifeless, their red blood pooling slowly around them. "Are you responsible for their disappearances? Are you responsible for this?" He asked lowly._

_The man looked bored and sighed, "If you're asking if I'm the one responsible for their rape, their abuse and their mistreatment, then yes. Am I the one responsible for bringing them here? No. Am I responsible for taking the 'garbage' off the street and using it for better use? Yes, I am."_

_"Garbage? How the hell are children with families' garbage?" He demanded, his voice rising in anger._

_"Well, we needed some higher quality bodies…" _

_Naruto saw red, it was men like this that had caused him to suffer. Men who saw him as nothing more than a good fuck and some sport, he wasn't human to them and neither were these children to this man. Without even making a hand sign, Naruto replaced the woman with the man—no, not woman,_ girl._ He caught her as she fell and carefully laid her down, his eyes traveling over her naked body for any mortal wounds. _

_Her face, neck and breasts were heavily bruised and one eye was swollen shut, her hair was grease and dirt filled and lay slick against her face from sweat. Her stomach showed signs of punches and as he let his fingers travel over her ribs, he felt at least three broken. Cum lay drying on her breasts and stomach as well as seeping out from between her legs, a sign of over and hard use, and her wrists were scraped clean of any skin and bleeding slowly from infection. _

_Brushing back a strand of hair, Naruto stroked her cheek gently, not even moving when she flinched at the contact. "Hush little one," he whispered, guessing the girl was about thirteen, "you'll be home soon." But even as he spoke the words, the girl's breaths slowed and that one eye that looked up into his dimmed. He bent down and kissed her forehead softly, hearing the quiet sigh as she breathed her last. _

_"What the hell did you do?" The man yelled, pulling against his chains and turning Naruto away from the dead girl._

_Naruto stood slowly, his anger fogging his mind and his thoughts, all he could see was what he had to destroy. "I thought because you enjoyed it so much, maybe you'd like to experience what these kids have." He answered, smiling sadistically at him. _

_The man paled and his mouth dropped open in shock. "What…?"_

_He reached behind his back and pulled a shiruken from his pouch, fiddling with the point with his fingertips as he walked towards the shackled man. "What, you don't agree?" _

_"I'll fucking kill you for this."_

_"And how are you going to do that? Chained to a wall?" _

_"You won't kill me, you need me to unlock those cells." _

_Naruto laughed, now standing inches before the man, "I put you in her place and killed your two men, as well as the two shinobi you had out front, and you think I need you to unlock a couple locks. I could break them in my hand." _

_"You can't do this…" He whispered._

_"I see no reason why not." Very slowly, he raised the shiruken and pressed it against the man's cheek, letting the tip sink into his skin for a couple seconds as a bead of blood trickled down his face. "You did it to them." He whispered, bringing the weapon down in a quick sweep and cutting his cheek open._

_The man screamed and struggled against his bonds. "You're fucking crazy!"_

_"Yes, I am." Naruto grinned as he stabbed a kunai into the man's shoulder and twisted the blade. _

_"Stop it."_

_He cut the man's shirt in half, leaving a large red line down his chest. "You're already giving up? Well, that's no fun." Taking his time, Naruto wrote "Rapist" into the man's chest, making deep angry cuts as he went. "R…"_

_"Stop, please!" He cried, his chest heaving with sobs._

_"You didn't stop when they asked you to, did they?" He growled, pushing the tip back against the man's chest. "A…P…I…"_

_"No, please don't." The man whispered as blood dripped from his chest and pooled around his feet._

_Naruto ignored him and continued his cutting, "S…T." He suddenly stopped and looked up into the man's eyes, tears falling down his face. "What's that spell?" He asked curiously._

_The man shook his head and choked back a sob as Naruto stabbed his other shoulder._

_"What's it spell?"_

_Biting his lip so hard that it bled, he still remained silent, much to Naruto's chagrin. _

_Back handing him, Naruto grabbed his jaw painfully, making certain to disturb his cheek. "Once more, what does it spell?"_

_Screaming, he said, "Rapist! Rapist, rapist, rapist! Just fucking stop this."_

_Naruto released his jaw and whispered as he pulled out another shiruken. "No, I don't think I will."_

-Kit! Stop it!-

_Turning, Naruto looked at his friend and shook his head. "No! He had them raped, he had them killed a-and used them! They're children Kyuubi, like I was, and I can't stand by and let him not pay."_

_­The black fox stepped towards the Anbu and stared down at him. _–You do this and you'll be just as bad as them, kit. You're better than them and you know in your heart this is not what you want.-

_The shiruken dropped from his hands, now trembling as his rage filled mind cleared. "But he deserves to die…" He whispered, tears slowly falling down his face._

-True, but there are more ways to die than the one you've chosen.-

_"I was sent to assassinate him." Naruto said, trying to reason with the fox._

-But you were never told how to assassinate him. Don't do this kit, I won't stop you if you decide to, but you shine so brightly that this would darken your soul. Don't go down that path.-

He picked the shiruken back up and turned towards the man; grabbing the hair at the nape of his neck and making him look up. "_I should cut your balls off, castrate you slowly because I'm not fucking you, but my friend is right, I won't sink to your level." _

_"Either kill me or leave me, just pick one!" The man cried, his body quaking as he waited for the blonde to answer._

_Naruto remained silent, considering his words for a moment before smirking, "I'll pick both…" He whispered, stepping back. Careful to step over the girl's body, he threw his last kunai, impaling the man's stomach, and opened the large door. "You may live a day, but you'll be dead by sunset." Naruto said above the man's agonized screams before he silently walked out the room and closed the door, ignoring the man's pleas and screams as he locked it. _

-Kit! What have you done?-_ Kyuubi demanded, standing before him. The anger in those ice blue eyes was enough for anyone to sense he was angry._

_"What was needed." He whispered. "Help me get these children out of here Kyuubi." _

_"You're too troublesome Naruto." Shikamaru said from the other side of the corridor, already working on the padlocks._

_"Shika! I thought I told you—"_

_"And I did, then I came back." He shrugged. "Are you going to hurry up? We still need to take them to their villages." _

_Naruto nodded and joined Shikamaru as they unlocked each cell and inspected the children one by one. Those unable to walk or unconscious were helped by the stronger children and the most damaged were given to Naruto and Kyuubi. "Kage Bushin!" He whispered, calling ten clones to his aid to help carry the children out of the death pit._

_­—End of Flashback—_

Naruto trembled in Sasuke's arms, crying into the crook of his neck as he recited the tale to his lover. "I-I almost did castrate him Sasuke, the thought crossed my mind countless times and if Kyuubi had never shown up, then I don't know what I would've done."

"Hush love, you're not at fault." He whispered, trying not to let him see just how shaken he was by his story.

"There were so many of them too, even with the three of us there to help. We spent that night j-just looking over them, giving them some broth and water and tending to their wounds. Even Kyuubi used his chakra to heal the greatly wounded, but still…by morning we had lost a fourth of them and that afternoon only the ones able to walk were still alive. Shit Sasuke, they were so many faces, so many hands reaching out to touch me, hold me, drag me in…"

"You're here with me, not with them Naruto, and I'll never let anyone take you away from me."

"Promise?" He whispered, blue eyes looking uncertainly up.

"Promise."

Silence flowed through the room until Naruto said softly, "The last cell was full of bodies…there were so many, all broken and used and thrown away—like garbage Sasuke, they were nothing to them."

"You saved the ones you could and that man is dead now."

He pulled away, shaking his head vigorously, "You don't understand! I almost maimed him, like what was done to me. I'm no better than the men who raped me Sasuke, I'm just as low and demented an—"

Sasuke silenced him with a gentle finger pressed against the blonde's lips. He hated seeing his lover like this, so certain he was worth little more than the price of dirt and tormented by past dreams and nightmares. "Love, listen to me." He said softly, making eye contact with Naruto and holding it. "Those men—all of them—got exactly what they deserved and though it might've crossed your mind to torture him the same way he tortured those children, you didn't. No matter what the reason," he added hastily when he saw Naruto about to interrupt him. "Kyuubi couldn't have stopped you if you truly had wanted that in your heart, that old demon doesn't have the heart to deny you anything, no matter what it is. He broke through your anger and brought you back from the brink, but it was you who brought yourself back to me."

Cracking a smile behind the tears, Naruto kissed the stoic man, "That was quite a speech coming from you."

"Hn."

"Oh great…you've used up your quota for the week."

Sasuke pulled Naruto on top of him and held the blonde close, "Don't do this Naruto, don't throw up masks and fronts when you're with me. If you want to cry, then cry, if you want to grieve then do so and I will be right there with you."

A soft sigh of relief came from those parted lips just before the mask broke once more and Sasuke had his hands full of a sobbing Naruto once more. "Gods, I love you."

"And I you."

"You won't ever leave me, right?" He asked quietly, his lips brushing lightly on Sasuke's neck.

"Never, even if my spirit has left this body."

There was a slight pause as Naruto tried to vainly collect himself before he relaxed completely into Sasuke's arms. "Call Sakura?"

"I will, now sleep." With the blonde between his legs and his arms tucked beneath his chest, Sasuke watched as his lover slowly drifted to sleep though the tears continued to fall down his face. Tightening his arms around the man he saw as his own savoir, he buried his face into Naruto's hair and closed his eyes, praying all would be well with the morning sun.

Dhampir  
Page 15  
09/06/05

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**Note From Me:** As you can all see now, this is not an M-Preg, sorry but nothing against them but they're being overdone…I'm gonna try something original, at least I hope it is. Anyway, there's two reasons for not making this an M-Preg: 1) By other stories, you need Kyuubi for it to be possible (as I mentioned) and Kyuubi is no longer part of Naruto. And 2) They're over done as I mentioned above too…sorry to disappoint anyone…

Also, sorry for this taking so long to get out, I've been having a lot of trouble getting enrolled in college so all my free time was taken up there and I've now stayed up all night to get this out to you guys. On top of that, I've been having a lot of trouble with my right hand, which is affecting my writing. Please forgive me…again, I think I'll be able to write from now on on the weekends…so please bear with me.

_For **Through Fox's Eyes** fans: It'll be coming out next, sorry again for the wait, but I've been collecting information of feral children…_

**_ONE MORE THING: THERE IS NO LEMON IN THIS CHAPTER_**, I just wasn't in the mood to write one and it's already fifteen pages long, writing a lemon would add another five pages at least, but I may do one later for this chapter if I have enough time. I wanted to show just how bad Naruto was off in it, but ran out of time.

_

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_

**Reviews:**

**Chibified Eyes:** First off, thanks for being my first reviewer! And then, I'm not offended in the slightest and I'm a girl, may I ask why?

**KawaiiKitsune-kun: **Hey! Nice to see you back for the sequel, yay!

**Itachi-rin:** Yay! Nice to see you back too, thanks for waiting so long… (I should be doing homework…)

**Kieshar:** Yeah, sorry to disappoint you, but it isn't…hopefully you'll like it anyway!

**Tsugath:** Yay, another! Hehe, yeah, I love that run on sentence and yes, there'll be more lemon scenes this time, to make up for the lack of them in _Living A Lie._

**xxXDark SlayerXxx:** Well, if you can, watch it in Japanese, it's gonna be so much better. Toonami cuts out all cussing, swearing and gore…so yeah, all you'll see is like… talking and even that'll have to be dumbed down because it's a very intellectual anime. (Why I like it…well, one reason). But anyway, thanks! Hope you like the anime, if you can, read the manga (I can offer a site if you need it)

**Kisu:** Yup! It's on aff! Hehe, hopefully the smut scene isn't a let down…

**Ruby-samsaaura-chantheneko-jin'syami:** Wow…long name! But yup! Kyuubi will be in this fic as well, just not right away.

**Bhodili:** Hehe, I wouldn't be surprised if Sasu had more gray hairs by the time I'm done and where I'm going with this…that's for me to know and for you to read…hehe…

**Generally Maz:** Um…Naru-kun up the duff? What's the mean…sorry… And sure you can request the sex scene, but it's also on aff . net if you wanna look under my penname, it's the same as here: Dhampir

**Kill Sakura:** Well, happy belated birthday! Glad I could get you a b-day present! Hehe!

**Sentai:** Yes, you're my friend and I don't know about the death-fic part yet…probably not, hehe.

**Ac4cherryz:** Actually, I am writing an Ita/Naru fic on the side…I'm having fun with it! But I'll definitely post it at some point.

**Lady Samurai:** Now…what would the incentive be to continue reading this if I told you right now? Hehe, and I like keeping you in suspense…

**Faye-faye17:** hugs Kyuubi is off…somewhere…he'll come back!

**Omi:** Thank you and here's the second chapter, long past over due (I've been having school trouble so no time to write) Why do you wonder about Itachi's wife's name? And I did post this story on aff . net and the epilogue is posted there for Living A Lie now too… sorry for taking forever on that.

**Cloudyeyedgoddess:** Well, I'll help in any way I can…um…I wish I could give pointers really…erm…I've never had any formal writing classes, I just write what I see in my head and try to put emotion in it.

**Ichigo-dattebayo:** Sorry, I'm continuing now and the lemon is posted on aff . net

**Millia Rage:** Definitely not a one-shot…don't know how long it'll be, but not a one shot.

**Florianne:** Well, thank you for the honor and welcome to Fanfiction! Also, it's not too much to ask at all, but just so you know, you have to space out your e-mail so I can see it or else Fanfiction erases it. So… mine is: DhampirsCurse (at) yahoo (dot) com. Like that, okay?

**Pina: **Congrats on being my fiftieth reviewer! Yay! Wow…fifty reviews already? Yay!

Also, thanks to everyone else who reviewed, I really do appreicate them and feel honored that you have taken the time to write me an e-mail. Though usually, I will only answer those I feel need to be answered or are questions. So thank you again and I truly do take the time to read each and every review with consideration and gratification.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Naruto_ nor any of the characters.  
**Note: **This is the sequel to **Living A Lie** so please read that first before continuing.

* * *

**Almost Real  
**_Chapter Three_

The early morning light glistened through the window, pouring over the two lovers intertwined in the bed. The first lay cocooned in the other's embrace, his head nestled in his lover's neck and his tanned arms wrapped around the other's chest. His legs lay tangled somewhere within the sheets and his lover's legs while his body lay flush against the other.

His bedmate, a pale beauty, buried his face into the blonde spikes of his lover, his sinewy arms braced tightly around the other's body, protecting him even as they slept. His brow creased when the younger let out a small moan and his arms tightened around the blonde, pulling him closer without hesitance.

Dark obsidian eyes opened as the gentle light flooded their room and they immediately fell upon the softly breathing blonde beside him. His muscles relaxed as he saw his lover was safe and alive, snoring lightly into his shoulder.

Smiling, Sasuke slowly slipped from the bed, pausing when Naruto frowned at the sudden loss of warmth, and then moved to the shower. He still smelled of sex and sweat, sex he didn't mind but he hated smelling like sweat—and unfortunately sweat did accompany sex. Dropping his boxers to the floor, he stepped into the tile shower and sighed as the warm spray of water flowed over his body. Stretching his tired muscles, he fell back against the cooled walls and watched the water swirl down the drain.

The memories of last night revisited him and he couldn't help the burst of anger he felt towards Tsunade. She _had_ to have known something more about that mission than she let on and she willingly let Naruto go, actually chose him.

Did she believe it would help him to revisit his past in the form of others? Or did she know how Naruto would react and therefore sent him to go on a killing spree? His eyes burned red at the thought and he fought from punching the wall, Itachi would be distraught if they had to pay for _another_ broken shower. Of course, last time it wasn't in anger and he wasn't alone.

As he washed, he continued mulling over the events since yesterday and the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to kill something. The Hokage had to have known something and he was going to find out what…after he got that sweat scent gone.

Finishing his shower, he quickly dressed in his Anbu uniform and grabbed his mask before scrawling a note that he'd be back later for his lover. He took one last glance in their room at his boyfriend and then left silently, trying to curb his worrying. But… something like this could set him back and Sasuke wasn't about to let that happen, not again. They had gone through too much as it is to add something like this on top of it.

--

No one dared bother him as he made his way towards the Hokage's office, not even his guards at her door made a move to announce him as he neared. Instead, they quickly opened the doors for him and stepped out of the way, they understood that look in his eyes and it was better to get out of his way than take a beating by his hand.

Storming up to the desk, Sasuke glared at the two people reviewing some paperwork.

"Sasuke." Itachi said, his voice cool despite the surprise he felt. He hadn't even sensed his arrival, but now he could see the anger rolling off of him in waves.

"Aniki." He answered in the same emotionless voice. "If you'll please excuse Hokage-sama and I, there's something I need to discuss with her."

"You have the day off Sasuke, so why are you here and not in bed with that boy of yours?" Tsunade asked, signing another paper. "And Itachi may stay." She set her pen down and leaned back in her chair, her arms crossing under her breasts.

"Why Naruto?" He demanded, "Why? You could've sent anyone else but you chose him."

"It was a mission, Sasuke-kun, and his team was best suited for it."

"Because you knew what Naruto would do, right?"

She narrowed her eyes, "Naruto is a skilled shinobi, he does what is necessary and he does it efficiently."

"So slowly torturing a man is needed?" He asked, his voice just below a shout. "Tell me, how is that necessary when his was a quick assassination mission?"

Tsunade glanced at Itachi and then back to the irate Uchiha. "Naruto didn't report that and I have no obligation to discuss this mission with you. The village specifically asked for him and so I gave him the mission. There is nothing else you need to know."

Sasuke clenched his fists, "When it affects him, I do. Those 'kidnappers' were rapists and Naruto saw it. He _saw_ it and he—" He stopped, taking a breath to collect himself. "Kitsune is the only reason he's still Naruto, he almost went off the killing edge and I want to know why you sent him."

"He and his team were the best for the mission Sasuke. I do not regret the decision I made and that is all you need to know. Dismissed." She refused to drop her gaze from his own searing glare, those blood red eyes dangerously close to insane. She had already armed herself with a kunai in case he attacked, but he just snorted and calmly walked out of the room.

There was no reasoning with that woman and Naruto was home trying to forget. He wasn't any help to both of them here trying to rip words out of her mouth, so he might as well go home and pester Naruto until he found what he wanted.

"Sasuke." A voice called and he turned to his brother. "Walk with me."

Nodding his assent, he fell into step beside his brother and waited for him to speak. Itachi was only a couple inches taller than him, but more muscular and his eyes never lost that blood red that momentarily seeped into his own. Despite his past deeds, the villagers accepted Itachi back with open arms and lots of armed jounin to watch him. He had become one of Tsunade-sama's most loyal shinobi and skilled tacticians and enjoyed the peaceful life in Konoha. His children and wife were both respected and cherished citizens and Mina had reached the ranks of chuunin before becoming a teacher. It was almost as if he had never been the murderer of his clan.

Itachi remained silent until they had reached the market, his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes tilted just enough to see his little brother out of the corner of his eye. "How is Naruto-kun?"

"How do you think?" He spat. "He's a mess and you know fucking well why."

"Tell me Sasuke, you could have any woman you wanted, but you chose him. Why?"

"Does it matter?"

"I find it…intriguing little brother, that's all. You chose the most hated boy in the village as your rival, then friend and then as your lover. One wonders why such a bond would form.

"I am not in the mood for your riddles Itachi," he growled, "so say what you will and go away."

"I speak no riddles, no little brother, only truth."

"Then tell me the truth," he said, rounding on his brother, "why did she send Naruto? It could have easily been a simple solo mission, but she sent his whole team. She knew he would fall apart and need his team there for him. Why?"

"The village leaders had heard about the mysterious Wolf Anbu who resides in Konoha and wanted only him. Tsunade-sama did try offering other skilled shinobi, but they refused anyone else. We had suspected the true reasoning behind their request, but we had no plausible evidence to not send him."

"Now let me tell _you_ something Itachi, I gave up my life as an Avenger…" Sasuke said his gaze focused on the ground as he clenched his fists. He slowly lifted the dark glare he'd been hoarding to his brother's eyes and watched at Itachi took a hesitant step back at the anger burning there. "But if you hurt Naruto—directly or indirectly—you and Tsunade will die." He threatened and then walked away, leaving his brother to stand alone in the busy street.

--

It had taken Sasuke another two hours before he deemed himself calm enough to return home. With any luck, his blonde lover would still be asleep and never know he was gone. And as he slipped into their room, it seemed luck was in his favor today. Naruto's whisker marks twitched just before he let out a loud yawn, exposing his elongated canines that he had received after his merging with Kyuubi, but those startling blues never opened and so Sasuke deemed himself safe.

That is until a low whine filled the room, "Sasuke, get your ass back in bed before I drag you back in."

"It's eight a.m. Naru-chan, shouldn't you be getting up?" He chuckled as a pillow catapulted towards him with precision.

Blue eyes glowered at him from the bed, "I told you, _don't_ call me that and not until after noon. Now get back in."

"But—"

"**IN!**"

Smirking, he dropped his mask on the night stand and slid back beneath the covers. He barely had the chance to lay his head on the pillow before Naruto was latched onto his side, the blonde purring in content.

For a couple minutes, they were both pleased to just lie in each others arms quietly, but as always, Naruto couldn't stay quiet if he was awake. So finally, he turned slightly to look up at his lover and asked, "So, what'd the old hag and you talk about?"

"I never—"

"Just because I can act like an idiot doesn't mean I am one Sasuke. The only place you'd go at five thirty in the morning would be to see her. And I'm guessing it was about me, so spill."

"She refused to speak of the mission she sent you on. Itachi told me she tried to send others, but I would've been the next plausible choice and I was not given the option of taking that mission."

Naruto gave a sad smile, "She never tried to find anyone else, but it wouldn't have made a difference 'cause I still would've gone."  
"No, you wouldn't have." He said, those black eyes boring into blue. "I would've taken your place Naruto, you never should've been subjected to that again."

"Subjected to that again?" He spat, his face darkening with anger. "I can damn well handle myself and I won't break at the first sign of violence, Sasuke. I don't need you babying me for the rest of my fucking life."

"Narut—"

"_No!_" The blonde suddenly pushed away and moved to the edge of the bed, glowering at the wall. He bit his bottom lip and spoke slowly, refusing to look at Sasuke as he said, "I'm twenty fuckin' two years old and I don't need you protecting me from every little thing that happens. It was years ago 'suke, and I'm over it."

Sasuke sighed, he knew it was pointless to argue with his lover right now. He would only shut down and that would cause only more ground to be recovered once Naruto was willing to work with him again. His eyes followed the curve of his back as the sheet slid down Naruto's hips, exposing tanned, unmarred skin and sinewy muscle. Everything about Naruto screamed beauty and perfection—even when his blonde spikes were mussed and his eyes hazy with sleep—and there was nothing more that he could ask for in a lover. Even the thin scars on his wrists did nothing to dim his beauty, but just as an egg may look strong, if he's hit hard enough, he'll crack.

Softly moving, he wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist, pulling the blonde close, and propped his chin on the crook of Naruto's neck. "Don't do this to me Naruto." He whispered, "I…" he gave a sigh, "It's true I probably come off possessive and motherly," –the blonde snorted in response— "but I don't want to lose you. You scared me and I don't deal well with those emotions." He tightened his grip around the blonde, nuzzling the side of his neck, "You really scared me."

Slowly, Naruto turned around, his blue eyes misted with tears, "It scared me too Sasuke, shit, I'm fucking terrified by all of that, but there's some things that I have to face and I must do it alone."

"And this is one of them." He acquiesced, though far from pleased.

"Yes, it is." He lightly traced Sasuke's jaw and gave him a soft smile. "I promise though that if it does become too much, I'll confide in you immediately."

"And you won't lock me out again either." Sasuke added.

"Never again."

"That better be the truth, Uzumaki," he growled, "or I'll be forced to fuck it out of you."

Blue eyes blinked uncomprehendingly, "Um…Sasuke? Don't you mean you'll beat it out of me?"

That irritating smirk appeared and he pulled Naruto's naked body against his. "No, I mean _fuck_ it out of you. You can't hide anything from me when I'm pounding into you."

"I have more will power than that." He pouted cutely with a huff.

"Oh really?" He answered, his smirk becoming a coy grin.

"Yup!"

"Why don't we test that theory then."

"Wha…Sasuke!" He squealed as Sasuke threw the covers over them and began attacking his exposed neck.

**(You can blame FanFiction for you missing the lemon scene here.Oh well, I got toreadit, I know I'm evil.)**

It wasn't until well after three did the two men finally rouse themselves from bed. Mussing Naruto's hair, Sasuke silently stood and smirked at his boyfriend's unwillingness to rise. He buried himself beneath the covers at Sasuke's light chuckle and said, his words muffled into the pillows, "Five mo' minutes 'suke."

"That's what you said any hour ago, Naru-_chan_."

"Don't call me that bastard."

"Such foul language Naru-chan! It's not befitting of you." He grinned, dodging the pillow, once again, thrown at him.

"All right, that's it bastard. Now you're asking for it." He growled, leaping from the bed and glaring at Sasuke. "Outside now, we're settling this."

Sasuke's grin widened, "As much as I like to see you naked Naruto, I don't think everyone will appreciate it."

A light pink flooded his cheeks as he smiled, despite his embarrassment, and struck a pose. "But Sasuke-kun, then my awesome power over you will be broken!"  
Despite his outwardly calm demeanor, inside Sasuke was fighting a losing battle. The blonde before him made his blood suddenly head south and he could barely hold back the carnal instinct to tackle his lover and ravish him again. The teasing expanse of tanned skin lay open to his wandering eyes and wander he did, taking in every sinew of that perfectly sculpted body.

Naruto frowned, letting his hands drop to his sides as he approached the stoic nin. "Um…Sasuke?" He asked, blinking incredulity up at his boyfriend.

"Hn?" He answered, his hooded eyes meeting cerulean inches away.

His hand balled up in a fist and he gave a low warning growl before delivering a quick uppercut to his unsuspecting lover while shouting, "Hentai!"

Sasuke stumbled back, rubbing his soon-to-be bruised chin. "Hey!"

"Hentai! Hentai! Hentai!" He yelled, angry blue eyes glaring at him. "I can't believe that _you_ out of everyone in this city became a hentai." Huffing, he gave Sasuke one last pointed look before striding out of the room with that delectable ass swinging back and forth.

Without a second's hesitation, Sasuke pulled Naruto flush against him so the blonde could feel his hot breath on his neck. "But Naru-chan," he whispered lustfully, "you can turn anyone into a hentai with a single seductive smile. How did you expect me to turn out?"

Fighting his traitorous body, Naruto leaned back into Sasuke's chest. "And I guess I couldn't expect too much when we had a teacher like Kakashi-san."

A grin reached the brunette's lips, "Does that mean you're a hentai as well? You did have Kakashi too as well as Jiyara…"

"I am not."

Letting his hands wander, Sasuke began to lightly nibble on the blonde's ear, eliciting a very pleasant moan from those lips. "Oh, but you must be considering what you think about…" Sasuke murmured, a small 'eep!' coming from his blonde lover. "I'd say from your fantasies, you're more hentai than I, dreaming about me pounding into you, my hands roving over your body," he began moving them downwards teasingly, "and my lips kissing every exposed inch of skin I can find. Or…what was it you told me mere hours ago, koi?" He whispered into Naruto's ear, his blonde lover's breath hitching, "Fantasizing about you riding me, your hands on my chest and your hips moving as you ride my cock."

"Sasu…" He groaned, his breath quickening. Of course he thought about that—and more—but he wasn't about to admit that aloud again. Letting Sasuke know meant certain defeat—pleasurable, but still defeat.

"Yes?" He asked, nuzzling Naruto's neck before gently biting it. He was beginning to enjoy this game of making Naruto admit and torturing his poor lover into oblivion was just as fun.

"Well, this is a sight." A monotone voice said, making Naruto 'eep' and jump into Sasuke's arms, hiding his scarlet face.

"Shikamaru." Sasuke said smugly, holding his embarrassed boyfriend.

The lazy Anbu sighed, "This is too troublesome…"

Dropping Naruto, he pushed the blonde towards their room and smacked his ass for good measure.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shrieked before disappearing with thoughts of revenge already lurking in his mind.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and turned his calculating gave to Sasuke. "How is he?"

"What do you think?" He asked after a moment's silence.

"I know what my eyes tell me, that he's absolutely fine, but I know what my mind tells me is more accurate, I'm sure."

He nodded, "Shaken, uncertain, angry and scared. He's better today than he was last night, but he's hiding his distress." He answered honestly. Two years ago he would've told him, or anyone else, to fuck off before he told them anything about his lover, but he had come to respect and trust Shikamaru. The genius Anbu had come to find out practically everything on his own and yet he had never tried to use it against Naruto. Instead, he deduced who the Black Wolf Anbu was and placed himself in the team to protect Naruto instead of taking his own team as was planned.

"Understandable. He was horrified, as were we all, but Naruto took it a lot harder than most."

"Of course, it was expected." Sasuke's eyes flickered darkly as the thought of Tsunade, but he quickly masked his rising anger. He glanced at their closed bedroom door and then back to Shikamaru. "I don't know when his next mission is, but watch him for me. He's hiding something else, but I don't know what."

The lazy nin nodded with a sigh. He thought being a normal Anbu would be easier than being Captain, but watching Naruto was ten times as hard. "Never should've become an Anbu…" He muttered for the hundredth time since making that decision.

"Would you rather be teaching?"

Shikamaru groaned, "Why isn't there any shinobi work that involves dreaming?"

"Because then it wouldn't be fun!" Naruto grinned, looping his arms around Sasuke's neck.

He gave the hyperactive blonde a pointed stare, "Has anyone ever told you that you have a paranoid boyfriend?"

"Yeah, myself and everyday."

Sasuke scowled, "It doesn't hurt to be cautious."

"Cautious is one thing koi, paranoia is another." Naruto stated, kissing his lover's cheek for good measure.

"Don't start, at least let me leave first." Shikamaru said, muttering 'troublesome' under his breath. "You look well to me and so I'll be leaving now."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, blue eyes blinking owlishly at his friend. "Already?"

"I only stopped by because Ino made me." He yawned. "She heard from Sakura you cancelled dinner and so she told me to make certain you were okay. Woke me up from a great dream too…"

"Oh."

Sasuke felt the change in his lover's demeanor immediately, that look of sorrow filled his eyes as he slowly released Sasuke from his hold. "Naru…?"

He watched Shikamaru leave before turning to his boyfriend, those ebony eyes trying to peer into his soul. "Yeah?"

He pulled Naruto to the couch and then onto his lap, nuzzling the blonde's neck while his arms wrapped securely around his waist. "What aren't you telling me?"

"What?" Naruto turned just enough to look at his lover over his shoulder, "Sasuke, what are you talking about?"

"I want to know what you're hiding from me."

"I'm not—"

"_Naruto._"

The blonde slumped and let out a sigh, his gaze turning away from Sasuke's searching. "I…I know those men deserved everything I did to them, but I can't…I can't help but feel it was wrong and Shikamaru knew what I did to them. He doesn't want anything to do with me anymore, I know it."

"You became an Avenger, Naruto." Sasuke whispered, letting his head rest against Naruto's back. "The life of an Avenger is never easy and it usually leaves the Avenger either dead or insane from obsession. Kyuubi brought you back from that edge you almost stepped over as you brought me from it…but it never really goes away. I did a lot of things I'm not exactly proud of, but I cannot make them disappear and neither can you. Shikamaru understands, Naru, he's just lazy, but it's in the past now."

"Then is it over?" He asked, his voice quavering at the thought of doing it again.

"Yes. You avenged those children and yourself, there is nothing more for you to do."

Almost as if a barrier had broken, Naruto fell back into his pale lover's arms, taking everything they could give him and holding onto Sasuke as if he were his lifeline. "Gods, I love you."

Sasuke just smiled, holding the blonde close to his body and rubbing soothing circles on his back. "I told you not to hide things from me Naru, so don't." He said chastisingly, but the glimmer in his eyes was light despite his stern tone.

"I know, but…" the blonde sighed, wiping childishly at his tears with his fist. "But I don't want you to have to worry about every little incident Sasuke. You shouldn't have to."

"Maybe I like to."

Blue eyes blinked owlishly as Naruto pulled far enough away to look Sasuke in the eye. "What?"

"You heard me the first time."

"Why the hell would you like to worry about me?" He asked, confusion evident in his voice.

Sasuke just shrugged and stood up, dumping his poor blonde lover on the floor. Smirking, he stepped over the glaring man and strode into the kitchen to begin breakfast—no, lunch, he corrected once he saw the time.

"Bastard." Naruto muttered as he picked himself up off the floor. Yet his eyes softened as he stared at his lover's retreating back, "So you don't think Shika hates me?"

Sasuke stopped, but refused to turn around, "We have all done things in our lives that are less than heroic—some even beyond inhumane—no one can hold you to an act most all of us have committed as well." His voice had remained even and low, but Naruto could practically hear the tremor that wasn't there. He was speaking of his own experiences as an Avenger and what it had driven him to. Sasuke still hated to speak about his time with Orochimaru, and Naruto had yet to learn the entire story, but it was obvious from his words that there were things Sasuke had committed that he considered worse than Naruto's own crimes.

Sasuke started as two arms enveloped him from behind and a solid presence pressed itself against his back. "Don't." Naruto whispered, "Don't fall back into that darkness, you aren't the same man then that you are today."

"Hn."

The arms tightened, "I have never lied to you 'suke, yes I have omitted the truth sometimes and misdirected you a couple other times, but I have _never_ lied to you. So trust me when I tell you that who you were back then isn't who you are now. You were just my friend then, you are my lover now and don't you forget that."

"Naruto, I—"

_-Kit! The sudden intrusion into his mind caused Naruto to jump three feet off the floor and yelp. Get your little ass out here.-_

"Kyuubi?" Naruto asked incredulously, it had been months since the black fox had last visited their house. Usually the damnable mother hen of a fox showed up unexpectedly on trips and then disappeared into the shadows once the danger was over. He was more of a ghost than Naruto usually was. "Hey, Sasu-"

"I heard baka." Sasuke muttered before disappearing with a puff of smoke.

Naruto stamped his foot and stormed towards the front door, "Hey, you…_teme_!" It was damn hard getting that bastard to open up like that and now he would never know what Sasuke was about to say. He only got that chance once every five months and now his chance was wasted. Oh, there was going to be one unlucky fox soon… _-KYUUBI! WHY THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO CALL US _NOW?- He screamed in his mind and the demon, much to his chagrin, only smiled in that weird way that looked as if he was about to tear his head off.

_-I have an announcement!-_ Kyuubi said giddily.

The blonde shinobi stopped dead next to his lover and stared, his mouth dropping open in shock. Was that horse of a fox actually _frolicking_? It certainly looked that way at least… And Kyuubi was certainly a sight to behold: Sleek, silvery black fur covered him from nose to tails and he stood slightly taller than a horse and just as long. His ears had small tufts of silver fur at each tip and his eyes were the same cerulean blue as Naruto's. Perfect white teeth grinned at them from behind the furled lip and those nine obsidian, silk like tails wagged behind him. The demon fox jumped from paw to paw, dancing back and forth between them and looking downright pleased with himself. "Okay, I bite, what's up?"

_-Look! Look! Look! Look! Look!- _Moving aside, Kyuubi stared down at the young silver fox with two tails. The two tails wagged happily as deep green eyes stared up at the larger fox, its mouth open as its tongue lopped to the side. A small patch of white on its chest was the only distinguishing mark the fox had compared to Kyuubi.

Sasuke frowned, "Is that…"

"…your kit?" Naruto finished, mouth hanging wide open in shock.

* * *

Dhampir  
Page 16  
06/05/06

**Note:** I thank all who have remained with me through all my writing troubles. I'll tell ya, I've had this chapter done for about three weeks now except for the lemon scene (which had to be cut anyway) and that was driving me crazy. Also, I finally have my own computer again! cheers Unfortunately, I have two jobs, family and a boyfriend. So I'm still limited on writing time, but I promise I am doing everything I can to get them out as soon as possible. **Also, I've had my hand operation so now I can't write much. Finishing this chapter (two paragraphs) took me over an hour.**

**Reviews: I only answer those with questions, but I appreciate every review I get and take it to heart.**

**Bhodi li:** I'm sorry about causing you white hairs and I promise I'll never leave you! And about the sudden chakra dips, if I told you then there'd be no suspense, neh? Oh yeah, and about the ninja's…I guess he could go, but they also turn in a report on the mission, I'll work that out later.

**Redroseprincess678:** Honestly, I hadn't really thought about why they would kidnap them or abuse them, but the person who kidnapped them did die…just very, very, very slowly. Naruto leaves him dying when Kyuubi comes for him. When I wrote that, I was trying to find what would get a rise out of Naruto to the point of pure rage…and that was it.

**Generally Maz:** Okay…my own question: What does 'up the duff' mean?

**Babier:** To answer your question of drama: I am queen of drama and seem to love torturing my poor little (not owned by me) characters, so yes, there will be drama. evil laugh

**Ava Honey:** Lee died on a mission…but I don't really know how yet…I'm pitiful. Also, I'd love to tell you what happens to Naruto, but then you'd be bored with the story because you know what happens…so you'll just have to sit through it and probably yell at me for putting you through all this waiting and such.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Naruto_ nor any of the characters except Liza.  
**Note:** This is the sequel to _Living A Lie_ so please read it first before continuing or it'll be very OOC. Lastly, this is **not** an m-preg.  
**-Kyuubi speaking-**

* * *

**Almost Real  
**_Chapter Four_

Naruto shut his mouth with a click, his eyes huge and disbelieving at the sight before him. The blonde man was at a complete loss of words, a rare moment indeed, as he continued to stare at the young fox demon poised before Kyuubi. Something about Kyuubi and father together in the same sentence wasn't comprehensible in Naruto's mind.

Sasuke, on the other hand, cocked his head and studied the two demons, his eyes calculating and sharp. As he watched, the younger fox kept one eye on them and the other on Kyuubi, her body language suggesting tension and distrust. "She's uncertain of you." He stated, breaking the silence.

-We're not pure blood related.- Kyuubi said with a sigh, -She's what we call a half breed, meaning she's half human and half demon. She gets her powers from her mother's side…my sister in a sense.-

"Sister?" Sasuke pushed, eyes narrowing dangerously. What, exactly, was Kyuubi dragging his lover into this time?

"Hold on," Naruto interrupted, "so…she's like your niece or something?"

-Hai.- The fox gave him a toothy grin, the closest thing he could get to a 'nice' smile. -Her father was from Russia, but had soon died after marrying Keiki, my half sister.-

"Now she's your half sister?"

-Well, I see it's time for some lessons in history it seems…- He sat back on his haunches and let out a huff. -Pure blooded demons all have one parent in common, our 'father' though the first demons really didn't have parents. We were created from darkness and thus retain some part of it, its why most of our powers are strengthened or weakened by the waxing and waning of the moon. Yet we all are created from something else as well and thus, Keiki is my half sister, in a sense.-

Naruto scratched his head, "You lost me at history."

The fox laughed huskily, -I'll leave it up to Sasuke to explain it to you. Keiki was older than me by a few decades, but she and I were the only two demons created in fox forms, though she is weaker than I. At birth, we have no gender and as we mature, we decide which gender we'd prefer, as you know, I preferred the male over the female form. But half breeds do not, as it is, they usually take their demon parent's gender. Thus, my niece.-

Sasuke continued to regard the foxling with curious eyes, he could tell she was listening as well. It seemed she was never told of her own heritage from the way she was acting. "How is it that you know all of this?"

-Keiki and I were quite close and so I knew Pavlo very well, well enough that even in Naruto's body, I felt Keiki's anger and despair at his passing. It was only a few months later before Liza 1 was born.-

"Hold on, so…just how much does a half demon take after a parent?" Naruto asked.

-Depends on the child. I know some who didn't have a lick of demon chakra in them, while others possessed a great amount of it. Technically speaking, you Naruto, are a half demon for we share my chakra.-

"What?" He asked, his tone dangerously low. The blonde had always resented being called a demon all his childhood—and still now—that to find out he was, 'technically speaking', a half demon didn't sit well with him.

-I'm sure you remember our last bonding…- The fox said, swishing his tails, -We were bonded for so long that our chakras bled together and became indistinguishable that when we split, we took some of each other's characteristics as well as created a few.-

Sasuke put a comforting arm around the blonde, understanding without words his koi needed the physical contact. "Kyuubi." He warned, eyes flashing angrily at the fox.

The demon had enough tact to at least bow his head in apology. It was no secret for the telltale signs were not only emotional or chakra related, they were also physical. Naruto's whisker marks had become more prominent on his eighteenth birthday along with his elongated incisors that he had 'inherited' from Kyuubi.

In turn, Kyuubi had taken Naruto's blue eyes and calmer temperament. Yet neither could forget the new powers that Naruto could call upon now. The chakra foxes, Naruto's most prized pets, were a mystery within themselves. Kyuubi had never seen nor heard of the shadow beings before Naruto had somehow called a shadow blob in front of him one day. With his help, Naruto was able to form the chakra into the shape of foxes and learned how to control them with his will alone. The fox was used to working with shadows and other parts of nature to form what he wanted and so teaching him that was simple, but Naruto's ability to pull chakra from his enemy through them…that he didn't understand. Nor how Naruto could sense through the little creatures as well.

Then before the bonding, Kyuubi had never been able to take or give chakra to the creatures around him, but afterwards…well, it was an amazing thing to watch, though dangerous. He found he could drain an entire stream if he took too much and those kinds of things he couldn't return.

-What characteristics?- Came the quiet question and everyone turned to look at the green eyed fox before them.

Kyuubi tilted his head, -I do believe that's Naruto's story to tell, but not right now. Standing, the great fox stretched his back elegantly, his nine tails fanning out in reflex. If I may impose…-

"Too late for that." Naruto muttered.

-Shut up brat.- He growled, but Naruto could hear the mirth behind it. -I have pressing matters to attend to in the Rock region, so, please take care of Liza for me.-

Before they could reply, the silver fox bounded away into the woods leaving the three of them to stare at each other. Naruto was the first to comprehend the words and growled, "You _baka_ fox! Get back here so I can make a pelt out of you!" He shook his fist in the direction Kyuubi had fled before storming into the house to break something.

Sasuke sighed and smirked down at the young fox, "Welcome to the family then."

* * *

As it turned out, Liza wasn't too keen on the whole family thing, though when she was, she was oddly enough closest to Sasuke. Whenever he practiced outside or relaxed inside, the foxling wasn't far from reach. Sometimes she would even go as far as to place her head on top of his knee whenever he was reading something in particular. 

Much to Naruto's chagrin though, Liza was very good at disappearing. If Sasuke wasn't around to stop her, she would disappear for hours at a time and she'd only been there four days. As it was, Naruto entered the dark house after searching for the silver fox hours earlier as Sasuke had gone to Tsunade for some menial work and wouldn't be back until later that night. The blonde was left to deal with the foxling all on his own and once his back had been turned, she had disappeared. He couldn't sense her anywhere as she had yet to use her chakra around him 2 and around midday it had began to pour.

Yet he still searched, worried that something had befallen the young fox due to the people's attitudes towards demons—excluding Kitsune, Kyuubi's alter ego so to speak. It wasn't until hours after dusk did the blonde shinobi return to find said fox lazing around the living room. She opened one eye as he flicked on the lights and stared at him curiously before closing it again and feigning sleep.

Naruto glared down at the fox, anger boiling to the point of rage at what Liza had put him through that night. Shrugging off his jacket, he approached the young fox angrily and grabbed her by the scruff. "That's it." He growled, making her stand and dragging her up to the only spare bedroom they had.

Liza growled back and dug her claws into the carpet, but Naruto was older and stronger and after so many assignments, dragging a sulking kit was barely a challenge. Avoiding her snapping teeth and lashing tails was another though, but somehow Naruto got through it with minimal damage.

He slammed the door shut behind them and dropped the fox onto the carpet. "I've had enough of this, we're setting some rules up and _you're_ going to follow them."

Jade green eyes glared back at him from beneath black fur. -No, I'm not.-

"What would your mother think if she could see you acting like this?" Naruto scolded, his eyes glinting dangerously as Liza collapsed on the ground again.

Looking away, she answered quietly, -My mother's dead, why would she care?-

Her words seemed to defuse Naruto and the blonde sighed before settling himself down beside her. "At least you knew your mother."

She turned her head slightly, -And you didn't?-

"Nope. I don't even know her name."

-A whore's get?-

Naruto flinched at the words, but smiled brightly anyway, "Maybe. I know my father was the Fourth Hokage, but as for my mother…as far as anyone knows, I never even had one. But both of them are dead probably, at least my father is. I never knew him either."

-Why not?- She asked after a pause, her interest peaked.

"Did Kyuubi ever tell you how we know each other?"

She shrugged her shoulders, her body language obviously portraying her discomfort around the large fox.

Leaning back against the wall, Naruto looked up at the ceiling. "My father…well, as I said, he was the Fourth Hokage and loved by all of Konoha. He's actually the one who trained my old sensei, Kakashi." The blonde smiled thinking about his laid back teacher, "And I guess he did a pretty good job."

-You sound like you know an awful lot about him…-

"Well, when you read about him in history, I guess you do get to know him. But I never really _knew_ him, ya'know? When I was born, not even a few hours old, my father was fighting Kyuubi to stop the attack on our city. And so he brought peace about the only way he knew, by sacrificing Kyuubi, himself and me and merging the two of us with his blood. He made a deal with Death himself and sealed Kyuubi inside of me for all of eternity."

-But Kyuubi's…-

Naruto smiled, "Ah yes, that." Knowing he had her attention, Naruto told her all about his life in Konoha as well as outside of it. He watched as the young fox slowly edged towards him with every passing minute until she was lying beside him while he stroked her fur and babbled away about another one of his stories.

He wasn't certain how much time had passed, but by the time Sasuke walked through the door, Liza was fast asleep in the guest room and he had snuck out to make tea. Smiling at his koi, Naruto crossed the threshold to greet the weary shinobi in the best way he knew possible. Once their lips separated, Naruto ran his hands tenderly up and down Sasuke's tense back before slightly kneading them.

A moan of gratitude reached his ears as Sasuke laid his head on Naruto's shoulder and let those nimble hands work their magic. "Hello love."

"Long day?"

"Ha..." He groaned, not even complaining when Naruto pulled him towards the living room couch.

"Have you eaten?"

Sasuke collapsed onto the couch and closed his eyes, willing his muscles to relax. "Not since midday."

"And why not?" Naruto huffed.

The tone made him crack one eye open and a wry smile overtook his lips. The blonde stood glaring at him with his hands crossed over his chest as one foot tapped lightly on the floor. "Because there was no time, _mother._"

The glare darkened. "Mother, huh? I'll show you mother, I'll skin your behind for coming home so late and not taking care of yourself as you should."

"Promise?" Sasuke asked, opening his other eye to leer at his boyfriend.

Naruto's face went slack before turning bright red. Without a word, he turned tail and fled into the kitchen, muttering a string of curses beneath his breath. Sasuke's chuckling carried through the quiet house like soothing music and Naruto couldn't wipe the smile off his face no matter how embarrassed he was.

When he finally returned with some heated leftovers and a cup of tea, Sasuke was asleep on the couch. At some point he had laid down to rest and fell asleep. Naruto smiled and swept aside those raven colored bangs. Bending down, he kissed Sasuke's forehead and ran a stray finger down his cheek. "Ai shiteru." He whispered before stealing the blanket off a nearby chair and covering the stoic man with it. The food would have to wait, but at least he could drink the tea.

Returning the food back to the fridge, Naruto rolled his shoulders and made his way back to the guest room to check on Liza. Upon entering, the young fox jumped up and cocked her head at him before lying down again. "Good night Liza," he smiled, "and don't think I've forgotten to have a talk with you either."

-Isn't that what you did tonight?- She asked, lulling herself back to sleep.

"Oh no, that was conversation. This'll be a talk." He chuckled lightly, clicking the door closed. He contemplated sealing the door and window, but shook his head as it would probably cause more damage than good. He made his rounds around the house to check the doors, the kitchen, the windows and finally lastly the porch.

Stepping outside, Naruto closed the door quietly behind him and just listened to nature. Warming his hands against the cool wind with his tea cup, he closed his eyes and let himself relax for the first time that day. It had stopped raining and the scent of dew was heavy in the night air. The sky was beautifully clear as well since the clouds had dissipated after the rain and now a gorgeous half moon shone brightly against a backdrop of black and stars.

Cerulean eyes opened slowly to stare out across the fields towards the nearby forest. There were still days he felt the need to just disappear for a while like he used to when he was younger, but he knew what that would do to Sasuke and probably everyone else—though for varying reasons. If he were to disappear, the Council would push to label him an S-Class nin just so they could have a valid reason to 'dispose' of him and probably most of Konoha would back them up.

But he knew that if that were to happen and they actually succeeded—a feat in itself—Sasuke would snap. The boiling anger he had seen reflected in those obsidian eyes would surface and nothing would be able to stop him from killing every last person that was responsible for his death, no matter how little they were connected. Oh, he had known the true reason that Sasuke had gone to see Tsunade, the truth was written all over his face.

Sasuke couldn't stand it when he took missions that others could take, he couldn't see past his emotionally frail, abused boyfriend he had taken as a lover and soul mate. It didn't matter that he could no hold his own plus more, nor that he had learned a great deal since his teen years, Sasuke still felt the need to protect Naruto no matter what the cost. This time, it hadn't cost anything except his anger towards Sasuke, but who knew next time. Next time it could be someone's life, maybe his own, and Naruto didn't think he could deal with losing his koibito.

A frown marring his peaceful expression, Naruto shook off those thoughts and focused on clearing his mind of everything except the smells, sights and sounds of night. He let the lull of owls and crickets soothe his tired spirit and the faint rain scent wash over him. His frown disappeared and Naruto soon found himself calm and at peace—for at least today. Deciding to spend another couple minutes outside, Naruto let his eyes slide closed again and refused to think about anything.

A slight tremor in his hand was his only warning before he lost his hold on the tea cup. The mosaic mug hit the porch floor and shattered around his bare feet, tea spreading along the porch floor in little rivulets of brown. Not even seconds later, a scream wrenching pain tore through his gut and Naruto gasped in a surprised breath, his eyes widening in pain as tears pricked the corners.

Falling to his knees amid the shards of clay, Naruto moaned and gasped as he writhed in pain. Muscles spasming, he bit his lip until he could taste the salty blood in his mouth, his eyes rolling upwards as the pain doubled. "Oh gods." He whispered as he felt the sudden influx of chakra in his system rising unchecked. He couldn't figure out where it was coming from or even why, but it was damn well painful, that much he did know.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Naruto wrapped his arms around his abdomen and curled up until his knees were touching his forehead. He was crying freely now, tears pouring down his face as tremor after tremor wracked his small body. He took short, gasps of breath between tremors and chanted silently for his chakra to stop flaring. The tremors were worse this time, for sporadic and definitely more painful, though he couldn't find a reason behind it.

His heart raced and Naruto willed it to slow, knowing it was pumping too much adrenaline through his system that would send him into shock, which he couldn't afford to happen. A stifled cry tore from his throat as his chakra suddenly flared, demanding release from wherever it had welled, but he couldn't risk that. He had thought he had his black chakra under control, but it was apparent he didn't and he didn't trust his skills to not accidentally torch the house.

Sweat broke out on his skin as he began counting slowly and softly to ten, spittle sliding down the side of his mouth with every whispered number. He could feel the ceramic shards cutting into his skin, but that barely felt like anything when compared to the pain he was experiencing now. Biting his lip to keep back a cry, he clutched his side tighter as his chakra began leaking out.

There was nothing he could do except endure the pain and ride it out, whatever it was. When he finally felt the pain begin to decrease, it had been agonizing minutes as his chakra rolled off of him in waves. He refused to move until his heart rate slowly returned to normal and the pain was almost completely gone. Opening his eyes, he stared in awe at the sight before him. Large plants now sprouted between the floorboards of the porch and the floorboards themselves looked as if they had been waxed slowly and carefully to bring out such flawless beauty.

Standing slowly, Naruto ignored the protesting of his muscles and focused on keeping his balance as to not topple over. The grass had grown three inches…and he had just cut it today. He knew his chakra could be given or taken from nature, but he had never expected something like this! "I guess I need to drain myself more often." He whispered, weariness evident in his voice. He was still averse to tell Sasuke, or anyone else for that matter, but it was beginning to look like he had no other choice.

_If it happens again…I'll talk to Tsunade,_ he thought before turning to clean up the broken glass. The rest of it would have to wait until tomorrow as he barely had the strength to stand again. Wearily, he shuffled into the kitchen, disposed of the shards and carefully walked to his room, using the wall as a brace when needed.

He didn't even change clothes before collapsing into bed and falling fast asleep, oblivious to the dark eyes of his lover following him.

* * *

Sasuke had awakened when Naruto came back in and he watched in silence as the blonde made his way through the house, pain and fatigue evident with each step. His eyes narrowed at the small rivulets of blood on that tanned skin, but Naruto didn't even seem to notice them as he continued towards their room with zombie-like steps. 

Quietly approaching his slumbering lover, Sasuke ran calculating eyes over the blonde's form. A frown marred his cool features as he took in the sweat soaked clothes, his bloody arms and the bone weariness that kept the blonde from being alerted to his presence. Eyes narrowing dangerously, Sasuke crept into bed behind his exhausted lover and pulled him into a secure embrace swearing to find out exactly what was wrong with him. _And if he won't tell me, I'll fucking find someone who will._

Dhampir  
Page 7  
10/29/06

**Note:** Ah me, oh my. I'm sorry for the long awaited update. You have no idea how many language databases I searched until I was satisfied with Liza's name. Anyway, on another note, I'm still having trouble typing—two hands surgeries—and so I had to retire there for a while…oh a few months or so, but I'm doing good and so I'm back!

**1:** Liza is a form for "fox" in Russian. The more common is Lisa. I decided to go with Liza instead…just because.

**2:** A friend told me—I don't know where she read it—but to track someone by chakra you need to know their chakra signature, which each person possesses their own distinct signature.

**All ideas behind demonology are by me and anything I picked up from books, but I'm not citing anyone, I just liked how it sounded.**

**And onto reviews!**

**Lyn:** Your English is fine, I'm impressed with your English reading skills as well. Thank you!

**Anime-Yasha:** Well, I'm very flattered to be your idol, damn I'm blushing already! I haven't had a chance to read anything you've written yet, but I've got it up and when I get off work, hopefully I'll have the chance to. (Should be sleeping right now anyway…but eh, oh well.) And thank you for your review, I'm most drawn to those who give long and explained reviews instead of "Great job! Update soon!" I swear there's a button for those types…

**Fast Forward:** You bring up a good point about his chakra and such, but the Anbu are reluctant to speak about each other—at least in my story as you'll learn. Shikamaru knows that Naruto and the Black Wolf are, but if you remember, in Chapter 22 of "Living A Lie" I had Naruto say he learned that from Kyuubi. Also, somewhere (I can't remember and I'm too tired) in "Living A Lie" I mention that Kyuubi and the Black Wolf are often seen in each other's company. Thus, people just kind of decided that he learned them from Kyuubi, but again, the only ones that know what he can do with his chakra is his team and they remain tight lipped about it. And this explanation is getting really long. So, sorry for not making it clearer and the townspeople don't know. Yup. That answer it?

**o.O:** Naruto and Sasuke are…give me a second. Yeah, Naruto's twenty two (he says it in Chapter Three) and so Sasuke is twenty four.

**Bhodi li:** Of course I haven't abandoned you and as you can see, I'm finally typing again. Yeah, second surgery that was kind of unexpected there set me back…a lot. Anyway, **_no_**, this is **not** going to be an m-preg. Sorry if it's a disappointment there, but you're just going to have to stay tuned to find out. Sorry about the grey hairs as well.

**Gonrie:** Is Shikamaru with Ino? Is there any other way to answer that than yes? Hehe. I killed Lee because, well I guess because I wanted him dead to add some tragedy to the story—like always. And how Lee died…I really haven't decided yet, but it'll be covered in a later chapter, I promise.

**Shitza:** Ah, hate to disappoint you so early on, but not a m-preg. In no shape or form, I promise that much. What I have in store is much more…twisted, hehe. Like always. But you're right, the last fic was about Naruto finding himself and this one…well, I can't give that away.

**Blue Lone Wolf 2574:** Yes, I really had to cut the lemon out—got warned last time by the mod—and of course Shika had to come and ruin the moment! What else is he there for? And I do believe this chapter has answered your question on the next part.

**Raincurtain:** Sasuke will eventually find out, but I don't know if I'm going to have Naruto say something or not.

**Danii and Riku:** Nope, Naruto is not having a kid.

**Chichi:** Erm…how did what happen? I'd answer, but I have no idea what I'm answering.

**Guakamori: **Why kill Lee? Because I'm sadistic. I don't think I'm going to kill anyone else, though I noticed you didn't ask me not to kill Sakura… I don't think Naruto and Kyuubi will merge again either, it's just too much chakra for him to hold onto as "Living A Lie" went over. And if he was in his right mind, Naruto would've been more concerned for the children, but he just…kinda snapped.

**BunnySayHiHi:** Why girls know so much about gay relationships…you know, I really don't know how to answer that. Maybe because most girls have at least one gay friend and so we talk about boys and all that. Or we just read fanfiction because we're addicted to it and learn as we go, mine's the latter. And for the clueless part…oddly enough, I'm a virgin to pretty much everything—much to my boyfriend's chagrin.

**NaTsUkO-ChAn:** Wow, that's hard to write! As for the different terms in the chapters, I know I already answered this, but I'll answer it again for anyone who's reading it. I use it to show a difference in their relationship, though what you said is true. Because Sasuke loves Naruto they are lovers in every sense of the term without having sex and as you saw in this chapter, I've been using more variety in the terms. But I used it mostly just for that.

**To Everyone Else, I Do Appreciate All Reviews, But I Only Answer Those With Questions. So Thank You And I Do Read All Of Them And Take Them All To Heart.**

**And for ONE LAST TIME: THIS IS NOT AN M-PREG FIC!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Naruto_ nor any of the characters.  
**Note:** This is a sequel to _Living A Lie_ so please read that first. And yes, everyone is OOC, but it's all explained in the prequel.

**Almost Real  
**_Chapter Five_

There is one thing that is taboo in the Uzumaki-Uchiha household and that is, never allow Naruto to become bored, for when he becomes bored bad things start to happen, or at least that's how Sasuke saw it. Despite being called a genius, it still took him a few times before he completely understood the consequences of Naruto's boredom. At first it was just pranks, but once Sasuke began avoiding those he moved into the kitchen and almost burned it down with an 'experiment' of his. This was, of course, before deciding that bleach worked better on hard wood floors than floor cleaner and thus why their kitchen was now a faded oak instead of redwood. It had taken the blonde coming home with a few gallons of orange paint before Sasuke finally understand and from then on always made certain to keep his lover entertained. But even the great Uchiha Sasuke was prone to a mistake or two…

Stretching, the blonde looked at his handy work and smirked, Sasuke was definitely in for it this time. Trip wires and booby traps were strewn throughout the house that even if he avoided one, there'd be three others he'd have to battle with right after. Now all he had to do was find said absent lover and drag him home so he could put the man through some torture. Though when he thought about the last two weeks, some torture wasn't even near enough to repay Sasuke for his…kindness.

He had fallen sick the day after his chakra incident and as if that wasn't enough, Sasuke had immediately become the mother hen. He knew Sasuke had the right to worry over him, but not letting him out of bed for more than an hour a day and refusing to let him leave the house even for a few minutes of sunlight was beyond torturous. The only reason he was out of bed at the moment was because Sasuke wasn't there to order him back into bed and he didn't know just how long that would last either. Naruto looked over his handiwork once more and smirked, oh yes, Sasuke deserved it.

Looking towards the door, he wondered briefly where his misplaced boyfriend had gone as he hadn't left Naruto's side for the past two weeks, but the thought was fleeting as he stepped into the sunlight. Raising a hand to shield his eyes against the sun, Naruto took a moment to bask in the warm light and almost groaned in pleasure. His love for basking was something Kyuubi gave to him after their merging and he found that he could spend all day lounging around in the grass, enjoying the sun. He sighed as a light breeze blew back his bangs and caressed the side of his neck, the scent of nature strong in the early evening air. Lifting his hands into the air, Naruto pitched forwards and balanced his body on his hands, scissoring his legs slowly to stretch his unused muscles. Lifting one hand off the ground, he grabbed his ankle and pulled his leg back farther until the comfortable burn of stretching became apparent. Repeating the process with his other leg, he let himself pinwheel backwards until he stood upright again and then continued his stretching session until he was completely relaxed.

"Naruto?" A deep voice asked and Naruto looked up at Itachi watching him with amusement. The Uchiha had thrived well in his new environment over the years and the blonde couldn't help but like the older man. At least Itachi trusted him to know his own limitations and let him do as he pleased unlike—"Sasuke won't be pleased if he sees you out of bed."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Let him, I've been cooped up for two weeks and I'm finally out of that prison I used to call home."

"You don't care?"

"Nope, let him just try to get me back inside." He responded, a knowing glint in his eyes that had the older Uchiha on edge.

Pointing, Itachi gave the blonde a small smile, "Ah well, I do believe he will try."

"Naruto." Sasuke growled as said ninja turned around.

Smiling brightly, Naruto bounded towards his lover and encircled his neck with his arms. Kissing his cheek, the blonde looked completely innocent to all and any crimes he might've committed. "Hi, koi!"

"What are you doing out of bed?"

"Enjoying the sun?" He asked meekly, his cheeks tinted red at being caught.

Sasuke glared, his arms crossed over his chest as he kept his lips tightly pressed together. Liza waited patiently beside him, her gaze going from Sasuke to Naruto and then back again. The Anbu Captain was beyond pissed and the scroll in his fist crinkled beneath his tightening grip, the wooden frame threatening to break.

"I'm better now, Sasuke, so you can stop glaring, okay?" Naruto said, glaring right back. "I'm not sick and haven't been for the past week, but you refused to let me outside. If it was your choice I'm certain you wouldn't let me ever leave the bedroom."

"You've been sick—"

"And am no longer." He interjected.

"—and beneath a lot of stress lately, I don't want you to take any chances you don't have to." "Stress? What are you talking about? I've been off for almost a month now, I'm not stressed. If anything, I'm fucking bored of not receiving any missions and am about to go to Tsunade-baa-chan and demand I get something."

Sasuke's glare faltered before he schooled his expression and pointed at the house. "Inside."

"No."

"Naruto, you're still recovering and I want you inside and in bed, now."

The blonde growled deep in his throat, if there was one thing that pissed him off beyond anything else, it was when someone ordered him around like he was a slave. "Why the hell are you being such an asshole, you bastard? I said I'm not going in and I can fucking take care of myself, so back off."

"Really?" Sasuke snapped back, "You can take care of yourself? Then why did you have a break down after that mission? Why did Shikamaru have to help you out? Why did Kyuubi have to drag you back from insanity? Why did I have to take care of you for the last two weeks because you refuse to tell anyone about your chakra?"

Naruto stared shocked at Sasuke, "What about my chakra?"

Obsidian eyes glared at him with an anger Naruto hadn't seen in some time, but he could also see the hurt and worry hidden behind them. "I saw what happened that night. I only saw the end but I saw the grass six inches higher than it had been and I saw how you struggled back inside only to pass out on the bed. I waited for you to tell me, _me _Naruto, but you refused to saw anything was wrong. Always stubborn, even if it costs you your life and this time it really might."

"Is that why you refused to let me out of bed? Or do anything for that matter?" He demanded, any grief he should've felt disappearing with a wave of anger. "Do you think to keep me prisoner, Sasuke?"

"If that's what it takes, then yes."

Naruto's eyes flicked from Liza to Itachi and then back to Sasuke. "Will you two please leave?" He growled, his anger barely contained as he continued to stare at his lover.

Snorting, the little fox took off towards the house and disappeared inside while Itachi stared after her with unconcealed interest. After a moment, he too disappeared inside to find Liza, thus leaving the two quarreling lovers outside. _--Tell me when you two are done boasting your egos.--_ Liza murmured with annoyance before her presence left their minds.

"So, why don't we start from the beginning?"

Sasuke nodded, "Your chakra, sounds good to me."

"No Sasuke, I mean the beginning." He whispered, his arms moving to wrap around his waist. "I mean when you first started protecting me from everything…"

"I haven't—"

"Do you remember when I was in the hospital?" He interrupted quietly, "When I was unconscious and you were there? You were there when I woke up that day…and I found myself relying on you more than I have ever relied on anyone. I was so scared and weak that I probably would've gone insane without you."

Sasuke nodded, thinking about all the times Naruto refused to let him leave his side and how he would hold him through the night just to keep the blonde's nightmares at bay. "I could barely leave your side."

"Yes, you were always there, no matter what my mood or state of mind."

"But you didn't seem to complain."

"You're right, I didn't. But Sasuke, I needed you then to protect me and care for me because you were there. You were the only one who was there."

"So you're saying you don't need me anymore." Sasuke said flatly, his expression schooled to refuse any signs of hurt to appear.

"No." He shook his head, "No Sasuke, I do need you, but not in the same way anymore. I don't a protector or a guard, I need _you_." He sighed and took a step towards the raven haired man. "The difference is that I can take care of myself now and I have learned how to deal with my nightmares and my chakra and everything else while you haven't learned to let me go."

"Because whenever I do, something happens." Sasuke answered, his voice quiet as Naruto took another step towards him. "Every time I want to let you stand you seem to fall again and I hate seeing you hurt."

"But you can't always hold me."

He looked up, "Why not?"

"Because you're my lover Sasuke, not my parent. I'm my own person and I can stand on my own two feet even if I am a clutz. I can take care of myself and my team and I can protect those who cannot protect themselves, I'm not weak anymore." Naruto leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Sasuke's lips. "I still need you, but not in the way you're thinking."

"Naru—"

"No, think about this Sasuke, I need a lover, not a parent. I've done fine without them my entire life, but I cannot survive without you nor can I live with how you are now. You need to decide Sasuke, and I'll wait, but I can't live like this forever. " Signaling with his hands, Naruto disappeared with a poof of smoke and left Sasuke alone in the field.

Sighing, the raven haired ninja looked down at the scroll in his hand, it was a summons for the both of them and Sasuke was uncertain of what to do. When he had received it that morning, he had planned to appear alone and explain that Naruto needed to rest, but everything had changed since morning. His blonde lover could no longer allow himself to be shielded and as much as Sasuke wanted to do just that, he could no longer. Yet he couldn't just stop worrying about the dobe nor could he stop caring for him as he had for the last five years, but it was obvious that Naruto no longer wanted to be protected.

"Sasuke." Itachi growled, annoyance plainly heard in his voice. Turning towards his brother, Sasuke could only stare at the shinobi's tattered and stained clothing. "Never allow your boyfriend to become bored ever again."

Smothering a laugh, Sasuke smirked and shook his head, "That was one lesson I had to learn the hard way."

"Oddly enough, I do have a feeling that I didn't find all of his tricks. This is only from entering the living room so I'd be aware." Flicking his wrist, droplets of water fell to the ground as he glared at the torn fabric with distain. The set up of kunai, jelly, shirukin and water had left it's mark on his black and red uniform and he truly didn't feel like explaining to his wife why he needed new fabric.

"How did Liza fair?"

"Excellently." He answered flatly. "She avoided every trip wire and trap Naruto had set with almost practiced ease."

"She's used to his tricks by now."

"She could've at least warned me."

"Hn."

Tilting his head, Itachi studied his younger brother. "What happened?"

Sasuke shrugged, averting his eyes.

"You have been too parent-like, Sasuke." He looked up in surprise, Itachi staring back at him knowingly. "He's your equal and you must treat him as such, even when he makes decisions that you do not wholly agree with."

"But he's such a clutz and he's always accepting the worst missions and his chakra—" Itachi raised his eyebrow and waited. "But…" Sasuke sighed, his head dropping in defeat. "I don't want to lose him Itachi, I don't care if I'm overbearing and worrisome, it's better than having him dead."

"That's not the only way you can lose him." He answered, turning towards his own house and leaving his brother to his own thoughts again. "There's more than one way to lose someone, Sasuke, and sometimes it can be even more painful than if they died."

Sighing once more, Sasuke looked at the scroll in his hand again, his mind already made up.

* * *

Naruto wandered the streets of Konoha, his thoughts just as aimless as his stride. Since his fight with Sasuke he had avoided going home by running errands, window shopping and watching the newest group of genin train. It was relaxing to watch the younger shinobi learn the basics of ninjitsu and genjitsu and he found himself reminiscing of times when he was like that. Everything was much simpler when he was younger, he did as he was told and his mask was so firm that nothing could break it. It didn't matter how much each barb stung, he could always smile and go on living as if nothing ever changed. Yet that was no longer true…

"Naruto?" A sweet voice asked curiously.

The blonde looked up into a pair of green eyes and smiled broadly at his pink haired friend and comrade. "Konichiwa Sakura-chan! Sorry we had to cancel our dinner date."

She smiled back, her face still as youthful as it had been five years prior. Though her eyes had hardened with wisdom, she had learned well from Tsunade and kept herself from aging as fast. The same could be said about Naruto, though he didn't have to concentrate on it. "That's okay, but what happened? Sasuke sounded pretty upset when he called to tell me."

He shrugged, "Memories."

She nodded in understanding and didn't press the subject. She had learned long ago that those things were best handled by Sasuke and she only helped when asked. Offering a hand to help him off the ground, she smiled brightly, "So, why are you here and not with Sasuke-_kun_?"

"Because he's a bastard and doesn't know when to stop parenting." He muttered as he stood.

"Oh, this sounds interesting!" She almost squealed, clapping her hands with excitement. "Let's go get something to eat and we'll talk about how evil men are."

"Hey!" He pouted indigently.

"Admit it, you might have the male anatomy, Naru-_chan_, but we both know you have a woman's problems."

He snorted, but didn't deny it. "Just bash Sasuke, not men, deal?"

She grinned, "Deal!" Grabbing his hand, she pulled him swiftly across the training grounds to find the closest restaurant.

"H-hey! Wait a minute…what about your team?" He tried again, pointing at the three youngsters watching them with mild interest.

"Oh yeah." She stopped, sounding too much like their old sensei, Hatake Kakashi. Almost causing Naruto to barrel into her, she looked at her charges and yelled, "You three better finish your training or else! And don't think I won't know either."

"Hai." Came the unified answer.

Naruto smirked as the immediately resumed their training and shook his head. When Lee passed away, Sakura retired from the Anbu and asked to be given a team of genin, saying she could no longer watch her teammates die in front of her. Though she still helped with some missions as a Medic, it wasn't as many as before and most likely never would be again.

He hadn't thought she would be able to really teach a team of genin, but she had proved him wrong when her first team passed the chuunin exams on the first try and with the highest scores. She had trained two teams since then and most of her genins usually passed except for two. Three of them were already jounin and one had joined the Anbu, she was becoming well known as a great sensei.

"Are you thinking again?" Sakura asked, smirking, "I've told you before that you shouldn't do that."

He rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out childishly. "Yeah well…" He huffed when no retort came to mind and sulked as she burst out laughing. He flopped into a seat at the closest table and vaguely looked over the menu.

"Well, let's figure out what's wrong with Sasuke now."

"You make it sound like there's always something wrong with him, Sakura-chan."

She cocked an eyebrow and leaned towards him, "He's either brooding, angry or bitching about something so it's safe to say there's always something up with him."

"I'll concede that point." He said after a moment's silence. The only time Sasuke wasn't doing just that was when he was cuddling or seducing his lover.

"What can I get you two?" A young girl asked, her brown hair in braided pigtails.

"I'd like the spicy ramen bowl." Sakura ordered, not even bothering to look at the menu.

"Miso soup with some rice please." Naruto added, offering the girl a smile.

She smiled back and disappeared into the kitchen saying, "I'll be right back with your orders."

"That's all you're getting?" Sakura asked, eyes checking the blonde for signs of illness.

"I have been sick you know."

"Hmm…" She murmured, still scrutinizing him.

"Honest." He pressed, refusing the urge to squirm beneath her gaze. "Stop that! It's creepy…"

"Fine." Resting her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand, she played with a stray lock of her pink hair and said, "So, tell me about Sasuke."

Sighing, Naruto began his story from when he got sick and told her how the bastard had been acting for the last two weeks. He only stopped when the server came back and paused between spoonful's of food, but it still took him a half hour to tell her everything. Once he had finished, he sat back and let her think about it. "Am I overreacting? Or is he?"

"I think you both are. You certainly are a man Naruto; I can't believe this is even what you two are fighting about. Had you said he refused to let you top, now that I could see, but this?" She asked, exasperated, "He's obviously worried as he should be, but he shouldn't be keeping you inside either. The sun would do you good as well as the light exercise, but you should also be aware that he might need to take care of you so he can feel useful. Just don't let him overdo it."

"But he is useful!"

"And men sometimes feel they aren't even though they are. "

Naruto sighed, "I can't go on like this Sakura, I'm not a caged bird, but that's how he's treating me. I don't know what to do about it either. How can I prove to him that I still need him, but not so constantly?"

She smiled softly, "By showing him. Lee did the same thing to me until I saved him on a mission. After that he left me alone during missions and came to me when I needed him."

"The difference is that Sasuke has never come back from a mission with even a scratch on him. It'll be hard for me to save him…"

"Then find some other way, but you have to prove that you really are independent or else he'll never lay off. Oh he will for a little while because you threatened him, but it's going to be hard for him to allow you to be on your own when he's around. "

Smiling, he nodded and stood, "Thanks Sakura-chan. I think maybe I should go home now as I've been gone for most of the day and he's probably obsessing at the moment."

"Yeah, yeah. Scat, I have a team to take care of anyway. Hidecki is slacking off again, I just know it."

Kissing her on the cheek, he signaled with his hands and disappeared from the restaurant with a smile.

"Oh yeah, thanks, just leave me with the bill." She groused as she laid down the money and departed. It was time to show her new students why her genin always did so well in the exams…

* * *

Entering the house quietly, Naruto looked around the darkened room and barely made it out of the foyer before Sasuke was in front of him. "We need to talk." He said, his baritone voice rumbling with suppressed emotion.

The blonde nodded mutely and followed Sasuke into their room, watching the muscles in his back tense beneath the tight black shirt. Sasuke moved to the window as Naruto sat gingerly on the bed, his eyes trained on his boyfriend's back. The two remained in awkward silence for near an hour, Sasuke never moving from his spot while Naruto shifted uncomfortably on the bed.

The moon had just reached its pinnacle when Sasuke finally sighed and turned to face his worried lover. "Where were you?" He asked gently, his voice neither demanding nor angry.

"I met up with Sakura and we went to dinner."

"I…I was worried."

"That wasn't my intent." Naruto said, his eyes downcast as he fiddled with the bed sheet.

Sasuke crossed the room and sat down next to him, "And it wasn't my intent to make you feel inferior."

"I know that, but you're smothering me, Sasuke, I need you to trust me."

He nodded, his arms coming up to wrap around the blonde's shoulders. "I do trust you."

"Then why?"

"Because…sometimes I…" he sighed in frustration, "sometimes I just need to remind myself you're still here with me. I've almost lost you so many times that…I sometimes feel it's out of my control."

"And you like to stay in control, but you can't be in control of my life." Naruto whispered, reaching up to cup Sasuke's cheek. "I need you here to be by my side, to be there when I'm not strong and to love me as you do. As I said before, I have survived eighteen years without parents and twelve without friends, Sasuke, so I'm not weak."

"But I want to make up for those eighteen years…"

Naruto smiled, "You already have. Never did I expect to fall in love or have someone fall in love with me. I never expected to live happily with someone, especially you, and I certainly didn't believe I'd ever have a real home here in Konoha."

Trying his best to pout, Sasuke looked down dejectedly, "What do you mean, 'especially you'? I'm not good enough for you?"

Laughing, Naruto smacked him in the back of the head before tackling him onto the bed. Leaning down, he captured those pouty lips in a kiss and gripped his thick locks with his fingers. Slipping his tongue between the small crevice Sasuke had allowed Naruto expertly began stroking the strong muscle within. He tilted his head slightly and pressed closer, coaxing Sasuke's tongue back into his own mouth and resumed his light stroking.

Sasuke leaned up slightly and brought his arms to steady Naruto's head, pressing closer with bruising force. Tracing the inside of Naruto's mouth with the tip of his tongue, he savored his lover's unique taste and committed it to memory once more. Everything about his blonde dobe reminded him of sugar and spice—it probably helped that he ate a lot of sugar and spicy foods, but that's beside the point—and Sasuke found himself becoming addicted to it.

Groaning as Sasuke lavished attention upon his mouth, Naruto found himself hard pressed in more than one place and he soon could no longer hide his growing erection. Trying to ease some of the uncomfortable tightness below, Naruto shifted his hips and broke away from the kiss, groaning loudly as his erection rubbed against Sasuke's leg.

"Hiding something?" Sasuke murmured, his lips centimeters away from Naruto's. A small string of saliva connected the two as the dark haired man let his hands rest upon Naruto's hips.

"I was trying." He panted as Sasuke moved his hips for him, causing another moan to escape his throat.

Smirking, Sasuke thrust his hips upward while leading Naruto's down, letting his blonde lover feel that he wasn't the only one. Naruto groaned delightedly as their groins rubbed against each other and he quickly leaned down to begin tormenting his lover into moving faster. Licking just behind his ear, Naruto grabbed the lobe between his teeth and sucked gently on it. Sasuke thrust up as he let out his own suppressed groan and his hands tightened on Naruto's hips.

Naruto smirked as he continued to gently suckle at the patch of skin behind Sasuke's ear, knowing that was all it would take to get his lover to be beyond reason. The growl was all he had to prepare himself before he found himself being flipped onto his back and his shirt being pushed up over his head. His legs were dangling over the side of the bed and Sasuke loomed over him, his black eyes burning even in the mid of night.

**(Don't tell me how wrong it is, tell Fanfiction. They're the one's who say ya'll are too young. Sorry!)**

"Sasuke." He murmured, pushing the man off of him and then snuggling closer until he found his pillow. Wrapping one arm around Sasuke's middle and throwing his leg around him haphazardly, Naruto murred with delight. "Love you."

"Hai, me too." Sasuke answered tiredly before letting his eyes droop with sleep. "We'll talk more in the morning."

* * *

Morning came with its lazy sunrays and summer heat pouring through the open window. Despite Naruto being sunny and blonde, he wasn't a morning person and he certainly didn't like being awoken by anything else other than his dark and moody lover. Stirring beneath the covers, he groaned at the sun beating down on his face and squinted at the sun before moving deeper into the covers.

"Will you stop moving?" A rough voice muttered as arms tightened around his midsection, pulling him closer towards the warm body and sleep.

"Well, tell the sun to go away then." Naruto groused back even as his eyes closed again.

Shuffling slightly, Sasuke flicked his wrist and said, "Go away." The blinds clicked closed and their room was once more shrouded in darkness.

"Mmm…" Naruto muttered, snuggling closer to Sasuke, "I knew there was a reason I love you."

"And here I thought it was because of my good looks and rugged demeanor."

"Sorry to disappoint you." He snickered, his voice still thick with sleep.

Shifting once more, Sasuke tightened his hold on the blonde. "Shut up and go back to sleep."

"I can't now."

"Then do something useful, like cook me breakfast."

"Yes Master." He pouted, but still didn't make an attempt to move.

After a few minutes silence, Sasuke sighed and asked, "Where's my breakfast?"

Growling, Naruto finally began to slide out of the bed but not before making certain to elbow Sasuke 'accidentally' in the stomach. The 'oof!' that resounded was enough to have him scampering away laughing as Sasuke glared menacingly from the covers.

_--Why must you humans make so much noise?--_ Liza asked once Naruto entered the kitchen.

He looked at the foxling, tail swishing, and began collecting supplies for breakfast. "Didn't you and your mother ever just have some fun?"

_--Don't talk about my mother.--_ She snarled before turning around and disappearing into the house.

Sighing, he put down the eggs and followed after her, finding the fox curled up by the window, her eyes closed and her body still. "Do you hate her?" He asked gently, sitting down beside her.

_--No…--_

"So it hurts to think of her?"

She shifted slightly before answering with a small whimper, her pain for once noticeable to the young man. _--She…she was always there for me.--_

"What was she like?"

Green eyes looked up at him, _--She was strong and full of spirit. She stood by my father in all things, even when other demons said she was weak for remaining with the same man, and I know they loved each other.--_

"She sounds wonderful."

_--She was. I can only wait until I am as strong as her so I can take revenge for her.--_

Naruto started at her words and shook his head, "No, don't do that."

_--Why not? They killed my mother! They should pay.--_ She growled, standing again.

"Because then you'll be no better than them. They were selfish and took the life of someone who was innocent, but think about their children and loved ones. Do you want them to grow up as you are? Without parents? Then their children will come after you and either you or they will be killed and it'll continue. You might end up leaving your children parentless, do you really want that?"

_--But…--_

"Trust me, I know how it feels." He said, stroking the spot behind Liza's ear. "People still think that I'm Kyuubi because he was sealed inside of me and think that it was _me_ who killed their family. I've had a lot of hate thrown at me since I was born and so I know how that feels. And what will happen if you're sealed inside someone? They'll be hated as I am, do you want that as well?"

_--They killed my mother!--_

"And Kyuubi's attack resulted in my father's death as well as the death of a hundred more shinobi. So in all sensibility, I should be out to kill Kyuubi, but I'm not."

She settled slowly and sat back on her haunches, cocking her head, _--Why?--_

"Because I understand why Kyuubi attacked and I understand that I have to let go of the past. Kyuubi is now an asset to this village and the other shinobi have accepted his help and he's helped me more times than I can count."

_--But my mother…--_

"Wants you to be happy and so do we." He said, smiling at the young fox. "What they did was wrong, but you can stop the feud where it started and walk away with your innocence—"

_--Innocence?--_ Liza snarled, _--What innocence? I saw my mother murdered before my eyes and I could do nothing. Her blood is on my soul and until I can avenge her, I am nothing more than a cowardly kitling.--_ Snapping her teeth at him, she kicked away from him and disappeared out an open window to find solace elsewhere.

Naruto stared after her with pain filled eyes, sorrow in his every move as he stood and began back towards the kitchen. "Yes, but tainted innocence is better than none at all…" He whispered, staring at his hands as if looking for the blood that should be there.

Hands wrapped around his middle and pulled him back against Sasuke's chest. "If you think you're tainted, love, then I have failed you." He whispered into his ear before laying feather light kisses upon his neck.

Wrapping his arms around Sasuke's, Naruto took all the comfort he could and sighed with relief. "How can I make her understand?" He whispered, turning to look at his lover.

"Let me talk to her. I had sworn to avenge my family and kill my brother since I saw my parents and clan die before me. I can understand how she feels."

Humming, Naruto leaned his head against the hollow of Sasuke's neck and closed his eyes. "It's coming." He finally said after a few minutes of silence.

"I know." The arms around the blonde's torso tightened before Sasuke released him and turned him around to kiss his forehead. "We'll get through it, like always."

He smiled weakly before turning back to making breakfast. "Why don't you go find her and I'll make us all something to eat?"

"Hai." Sasuke grabbed a shirt off the chair, momentarily wondering when he had put it there, and disappeared outside to find their wayward charge.

Once he was alone, Naruto put down the knife he was using and focused on his shaking hands. Glaring at them, he willed them to stop and then resumed cutting onions while the eggs slowly cooked. Grabbing the jar of dried chives from the shelf, Naruto could only watch as his right hand spastically shook and he dropped the glass container.

"Fuck!" He yelled, throwing the knife he had towards the closest object. The knife cut right through the sliding door pane and Naruto winced as a 'thunk' sound resounded through the house. The door itself was going to be a bitch to repair, but he feared more having to explain to Sasuke why there was a hole in the first place. Sighing, he went to retrieve the knife and shook his head as he pulled it out of the floor boards.

"Interesting place to store your tools, Naruto." A muffled voice commented.

Tracing the nick in the wood, Naruto only rolled his eyes and started back towards the kitchen, "What do you want Kakashi-san?"

"I just came to see how everything was."

"In other words, Sasuke talked to Itachi who talked to Tsunade-ba-chan who told Iruka-san who told you about something concerning me." He muttered, chopping the onions again, grateful that his hands weren't shaking.

The silver haired jounin smiled with his one eye and moved to look over Naruto's shoulder. "What are you making?"

"Breakfast."

"It looks wonderful."

"No, Kakashi-san."

"What are you talking about?"

Blue eyes glared into grey, "I'm certain Iruka fed you this morning."

Kakashi smiled wantonly, "Oh yes, he certainly did, but now I'm hungry for food."

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed, turning around to glare at his old teacher. "I do not want to know about your personal life."

"But it's so much fun to tell you!"

"Ecchi." He muttered, trying once more to ignore the man.

"I can't deny that." Kakashi nodded happily as he sat down at the table, his fingers playing with a piece of fruit lying there.

"Maybe if we ignore him, he'll just go away." Sasuke said flatly as he entered the kitchen with Liza in toe. He wrapped his arms around Naruto and kissed the blonde's cheek. "Did he scare you or did you try to chase him out?"

Naruto looked at him quizzically, "Huh?" He followed Sasuke's finger until he was looking at the door. "Oh yeah, I'm a little jumpy today." He answered evasively.

"I understand." Moving smoothly away, Sasuke removed the almost burned eggs from the stove and stirred the forgotten soup before moving to set the table.

"When did Kyuubi get so small?" Kakashi asked, staring intently at Liza.

"Never, let me introduce you to Liza, Kyuubi's niece." Sasuke answered without ever looking at them.

"Well then, nice to meet you."

_--Another human I must deal with, wonderful. Liza muttered before trotting upstairs to her room.--_

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Sweet girl."

"Here," Naruto groused, placing a plate of food before the teacher. Sasuke walked over with the other two and sat down beside his boyfriend, eyes intently watching the silver haired nin.

"What brings you here?" Sasuke queried, "Especially this early in the morning."

"Iruka sent him over to make sure I'm okay so that he wouldn't look like he's fretting over me." The blonde answered, snapping apart his chopsticks and saying "Itadakimasu," before beginning to eat.

"Tsunade-sama has also asked me to come…but she asked that a few days ago. Anyway, the point is that she has a simple mission for the two of you." Kakashi said, "This would be better if the eggs weren't burnt, Naruto."

Sticking his tongue out childishly, Naruto glared at the man, "Be happy you get anything, now what's this mission?"

"I already received the orders." Sasuke interjected before Kakashi could continue. "Tsunade-sama gave it to me yesterday since you took so long to get here. We'll accept it."

"_We?_" The blonde repeated, partially surprised that Sasuke was allowing him and partially pissed off that he had been keeping it from him.

Coal black eyes flicked in his direction, "Hai, I hadn't had a chance to show it to you yet and, as you proved yesterday, you're stamina is back. It isn't really that hard of a mission either so you should be fine."

"Oh? And just how did you judge his stamina, Sasuke-kun?" Kakashi leered sweetly. The blush staining Naruto's cheeks and Sasuke's pointed glare was enough to tell him how, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease the young couple. As an older man, he found it his job to tease them and he did at every chance he got.

"Do you want me call Iruka-san and tell him you're telling us perverted stories about the two of you again?" Sasuke threatened, leaning forward slightly, challenging the jounin.

"You wouldn't!" Kakashi mock gasped, though not in complete mock horror. The last time he had been caught telling stories about how the scarred ninja's bed activities, he'd been banned from said bed and activities for two weeks. And his sweet dolphin had turned evil by tempting him with walking around half naked and looking damn right sexy most of the time then not allowing him more than a kiss on the lips. He had suffered horribly, though he heard Sasuke hadn't faired much better when Iruka told the blonde that his lover had been gossiping about their own activities as well.

"Don't push me and you know he'd believe me before he believed you, hentai."

"I'll be good." Kakashi answered, holding his right hand up in oath, "I promise."

"Good." He said, a smirk on his lips, "All that's left is to work out of the rest of the details and we'll get started on this."

"But Tsunade doesn't let us work together…ever." Naruto pointed out, gaze turning back to the silver jounin. The food was gone and Kakashi was now cradling a cup of tea, watching the two young men quietly. _When did he make the time to eat that without even making a noise?_ "So why this time?"

He shrugged, "She doesn't tell me those details, just what I need to know."

"Sasuke, I don't like this. Why us?"

"Because of your foxes and my strategies," Sasuke answered, "It's a simple 'fetch' job that is a little more dangerous than usual, thus why we were chosen."

"So you're telling me you don't find anything odd about this mission? The last time both of us had a simple 'fetch' mission was when we were chuunin Sasuke and even that was more difficult than intended. Hell, I haven't had a mission like that since then!"

"Naruto, she doesn't have the teams to spare and the genin teams aren't experienced enough to take it on. We are just coming back from a long break and so she gave us a simple mission that should only take a week or two."

Mulling it over, Naruto finally nodded in acquiesce though he couldn't completely ignore the nagging feeling that this wasn't as simple as Sasuke claimed. "I want to see the scroll later."

"Hai."

Kakashi stood, his tea finished while they were distracted once again. "Well, I must get going, it was nice seeing both of you again." Waving, he disappeared from their kitchen and left the two lovers alone.

Naruto stood and began clearing off the table, piling the dishes with practiced ease while Sasuke sat in deep thought. Once the dishes were gone and the extra food put away, Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's shoulders and laid his head against Sasuke's. "What are you thinking about?"

"The mission…Why are we the one's doing this? Isn't your team off duty as well?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Un." Naruto nodded, fingers gently playing with the collar of Sasuke's shirt.

"So why aren't they doing it? Why is it us? She had mentioned in the scroll it was because of your foxes and my skill at strategy that we were chosen, but I thought she knew we were bored."

"We'll take a look at that scroll later tonight and figure it out form there? How many pages?"

"Six."

"And why a scroll anyway for the important missions?" Naruto muttered out loud. "We have to turn in our reports on plain paper, but we get our missions in scroll form…"

"Tradition." Sasuke shrugged, craning his neck so he could kiss the blonde's cheek. "Come on, we need to check our gear and weapons."

He sighed, "I guess so, but that means I have to sharpen my blades and that's so boring." His voice had turned into whining by the end and he pouted at Sasuke, hoping his lover would get the hint.

"I'm not doing them for you." Sasuke said while standing. Apparently he got the hint, but that was about it.

"But you're so much better at it than I am."

"Flattery will get you nowhere." He answered flippantly, his voice carrying as he moved into the living room.

"Come on 'suke, I always end up screwing up and then you have to help me out anyway." Naruto said, following his boyfriend with a pout on his face.

"How will you ever get better at it if you don't do it yourself?"

"I've been trying for years and haven't improved; do you really think I will now?"

Sasuke turned and appeared to be thinking about it before he smirked and said, "No."

"Sasuke!" He whined.

"No."

"Then no sex." Naruto threatened.

"What?" Sasuke asked slowly.

"No sex. Until the mission is over, so you're looking at three or four weeks, depending on how fast we get going."

"You can't be serious."

"Why not? No sex unless you sharpen my weapons." The blonde grinned, arms crossed over his chest as he waited for Sasuke's answer.

Hands clenched, Sasuke's eyes betrayed his inner conflict. He didn't want to clean the damn tools but he couldn't survive without sex for a month, not when he was used to getting it every other day. "You can't last that long."

"Wanna bet?"

Growling, Sasuke caved, "Fine, but you'll be paying for it later tonight."

Whooping, Naruto kissed Sasuke on the lips and then danced away, "You can take any payment you want baby, I don't have to sharpen them anymore, that's all I care about."

_One way to make me feel important…_ Sasuke rolled his eyes at his lover's antics. "We are forgetting something though."

The blonde stopped dancing, "We are?"

"Liza…"

"Oh, what about her?"

Sasuke almost rubbed the bridge of his nose, sometimes he could be so blonde it wasn't even funny and other times he could think and talk like a genius. It seemed the former had taken over at the moment, "Who's going to watch her while we're gone?"

"Um…Kyuubi?" He squeaked.

"And where's Kyuubi?"

Naruto pondered the question and finally said, "Good question."

"We need to do something."

"We could take her with us."

"And risk having her hurt? I don't feel like having an enraged Kyuubi in my face, if I can avoid it." Sasuke answered, leaning against the couch arm.

"Right. Um…Sakura-chan!" He suddenly shouted, "She's great with children and she knows what to do with them. Plus, she's a girl and I'm sure Liza would love to have someone of the same sex to talk to."

"Naruto, Sakura doesn't know about her and I don't think it's a good idea to place a demon fox in the middle of town before she's protected by the Hokage."

"Well, if you're so smart, you come up with an idea." He finally snapped, glaring at his lover. He knew what Sasuke was saying was true, but he was out of ideas and everything he offered was shot down.

"We can't let her wander off on her own…" Sasuke said. "Maybe we could disguise her?"

"You mean have a charm made for her?"

He nodded, "She could also go into town instead of waiting for me in the woods."

"It might work, but we still need to ask Liza about it."

"Ask me what?" Liza asked from the stairwell.

Both men turned and stared at the young girl—not fox—standing before them. Black hair with highlights of silver hung in pigtails and her bright green eyes watched them amusedly from behind wispy bangs. Formfitting black clothes covered her from head to toe and a long silver chain hung down between her small breasts. Her arms were crossed lightly over her stomach and black nails clicked lightly against her elbow as she waited for their answer.

"Holy shit," Naruto gaped, "she's human!"

Dhampir  
Page 14  
03/07/07

(I turn 21 in 4 days! Damn I'm old...)

* * *

**Thanks for Reviewing Everyone! If I didn't put you in my answers it's because you didn't ask a question or say something that I just had to comment on, but I do read every review and truly take it to heart. **

**Sorry for the long update again… **

**Guakamori:** Yes, you are correct. It is the Fourth Hokage…I just had a relapse in memory and screwed up with that. Sorry, but that's for correcting me.

**Kira Temeki:** Damn, it's coming again since I finally updated! You wouldn't believe how happy I am for finally updating again. And yes, you are correct as well, it's the Fourth, not the Third.

**Sunny-rain:** Yay! Finally someone noticed that it isn't an m-preg! I'm still getting e-mails asking if it is going to be one or not even though I've said NO in each chapter. Thanks though for your wonderful review and I hope this chapter wasn't a let down.

**Kage no Tenshi:** Yes, you are correct, it's the Fourth. I just had a brain relapse, but thank you for correcting me. I hope I got everything correct in this chapter.

**Bhodi li:** Hehe, thanks for sticking through all my problems li! And sorry about the grey hairs…And yes, you're correct as well, it's the Fourth. Um…children…will most likely be Liza if you can call her a child.

**Blue Lone Wolf 2574:** Yes, it's the Fourth, I know, sorry. But do you really think it's possible for me to leave my lovely babies alone without causing pain, misery and strife? Nah.

**Catwarrior:** Ah, see, I know why and everything, but I can't give it away yet. It should be in a few chapters though…I hope everyone likes it though.

**Blackstar Angel:** My hand is much better, thank you. I'm working out and so I finally get to start strengthening my hand, but I'm still wearing braces almost 24-7…more like 22-6, but close enough.

**BunnySaysHIHI:** Are you by chance related to Sakuma Ryuichi's bunny Kumagoro?

**Silver-Serval:** I will reveal that Naruto's chakra problems are in some way related to Kyuubi, but not in the sense of a disease. Sorry it took so long to update too…I'll try to be better.

**LeKunoichi:** M-preg means Male Pregnancy and "Ai shiteru" means "I love you." Sorry, I should've put a glossary at the bottom.

**Shitza:** I started reading yours and then I lost it and then I lost my internet and now I'm back. So I'll try and read it again, but thanks fore reviewing and I hope you liked this chapter too!

**Haruko Haruhara:** Thank you for your review, I still blush at reading people's praises, I guess I'm just modest. But again thank you and I hope my story doesn't let you down in any way and hopefully I'll get to hear more from you.

**The Oblivious Captain Anna:** Liza and Naruto will get closer, but she's still wary of humans. She's just attracted to Sasuke's dark aura pretty much…And Naruto's chakra is just haywire at the moment, but I promise it'll all be explained in a few chapters.

**Sailor Epyon:** Yeah, I've just kind of created my own demonology, which I'll be doing more of in later chapters, but I'm glad you like it. And I promise you'll be finding out, hehe.

**Guren:** Well, sorry but the holidays are over….It's been unbelievably busy here at my house. And thanks for your concern, my hand is getting better and I'm starting to type faster. Unfortunately this chapter just took some research and such. In the next few chapters we'll be covering Naruto's chakra problems and Sasuke's going to be more involved in it, of course. As for Liza, pretty much she's just attracted to the dark aura he seems to always be carrying around him, reminds him of herself.

**Okita 1209:** Hehe, yeah you're off the mark, but good guess! I really hadn't even thought of that possibility, but I promise I'll be revealing it all soon enough.

**Smiley379:** Yes, you are correct that since Naruto can turn female with his Sexy no Jutsu, but you'd have to hold that for nine plus months, that's a lot of energy going elsewhere. Also, even though the Kage Bushin are shadow clones, they disappear when hit too hard or when Naruto loses concentration. Thus, if one was impregnated, she'd walk into a wall or something and 'poof!' gone. I didn't really mention it either because I just ruled it out with Kyuubi being separate and it just being too hard to hold a jutsu for nine months like that. I say it's necessary for Kyuubi to be part of Naruto for them to have a child because demons (at least in my demonology) can change sexes, thus Kyuubi could become a female and carry the child for Naruto since he wouldn't be able to since he doesn't have the right parts for it. In Chapter Two, "it 'suke" isn't something, Naruto was commenting on Sasuke calling the child an "it" and " 'suke" is a shortened form of "Sasuke" "Sa 'suke". It's just Naruto's nickname for him. And yes, I've noticed my spelling, I'm correcting it as I go. Most of the time I'm working of memory and without internet, so I don't have a chance to look it up. This is becoming a long review… "Koibito" means "Lover, boyfriend, partner…" and so on. Koishii is another form as is Koi. Shizune isn't really in them, you're right because she hasn't really had a part in the stories, as if you've noticed that Tsunade isn't in them much either. If I was going to keep every character then I'd be introducing every teacher and student at least every other chapter, it's too much. Some will pop up, but not if they really have no point. Shizune was going to show up at some point, just not yet.

**Menolly1019:** As you can see, it's been completely not ignored. I had it set up like that for a reason and so now Naruto gets to grow a backbone. And thank you for correcting me on Itachi's wife. I really have no idea where Mina came from, I think I was watching an anime with that name in it and just started calling her that…but thank you, I was floored when I saw your review said that, I had no idea I typed that.

**Feshnie:** I'm really surprised you're printing it out, but I don't mind at all. I really can't claim copywriting and such because it's not my characters or anything except for Liza. And so yes, I'm quite fine with it as long as I don't see it up for E-bay or something like that. And I hope this chapter isn't a let down for you, though I will warn you, there's going to be pressure, tears and moodswings and pain for our beloved blonde (and brunette), but not because of pregnancy.

**Last Note!** _Okay, I've had a couple of these and it kind of bothers me, so I'm going to leave this last little note for whoever wants to read it. I know my spelling and grammar aren't impeccable and I'm working on it, but please don't comment on it if you yourself cannot use correct spelling and grammar. It's almost hypocritical. I write for fun, not for money and so as long as my mistakes aren't out of this world, like calling Naruto Narquitoe or something, please don't tell me about my grammar unless you yourself can claim perfect usage. Thanks. _

_That doesn't mean I don't appreciate criticism or correction of errors from my reviewers, just not from people who cannot use correct grammar and spelling and then want to say I'm not spelling stuff correctly. So everyone who does, go ahead and keep correcting me._

_Sorry about that, but it just got on my nerves. Thanks._


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: For the hundredth time (literally) I don't own _Naruto_ nor the characters or anything that pertains to them—except for my copy of the anime.  
**Note:** If for some reason you don't know this yet, this is a **sequel** to . Please read that first before continuing this, thanks.

**Authoress Note:** _I usually put these at the end, but I wanted to apologize for the long awaited sixth chapter. If you haven't read my note in my personal information page (it's three in the morning, I can't remember what that thing's called) then my computer was killed not long ago. It took a month and a half to get back up and running, but even after that, I lost **everything.** All my stories and the likes are now gone and so that got me into a slightly depressive mood where any time I tried to write, I lost interest due to thinking about all the stories I never published and lost. So, I am sorry for the wait, but it just took me a long time to write this due to losing everything. I am now backing everything up, yes I learned my lesson._

* * *

**Almost Real  
**_Chapter Six_

Naruto looked from Sasuke to the raven locked girl walking by them, mouth hanging open as surprise remained written all over his face. The girl sat down at the table and looked at the two gaping men—well, Sasuke had both eyebrows raised, but that counted—and smirked. "What? If my mother could change forms, then what's to say I can't?" She nimbly grabbed an apple off the table and took a large bite, green eyes sparkling with mischief as her guardians continued to stare.

"Sasuke, she _is_ Liza, right?" Naruto whispered, looking at the girl sitting at their kitchen table. It seemed impossible, Liza was a _fox_ and she certainly never smiled. He looked her up and down and took in her appearance, noticing immediately the unease in the girl's shoulders. Her black locks were streaked with silver and fell to her shoulders in matching pigtails, her skin was a smooth porcelain shade which a smattering of freckles countered and her fingernails were painted black, as well as her lips. The dark green halter top she wore and the fishnet shirt she wore over it left her body open to view for any admirers that might look her way. Tight black pants started at her hips and ended at her sandaled feet, the material moving as if it was her skin. Muscle could be seen in every sinew of her body and yet she still held those womanly curves that would attract the attention of many men.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, eyes narrowing as he walked towards her. "So, this is why we could never find you… Every time you disappeared, you just changed forms."

She shrugged, "It's a possibility."

"That wasn't a wise choice."

"Yes, well, a lot of things aren't wise but they are still carried out."

"What if someone saw you?"

"Someone didn't." She snapped, eyes narrowing in anger.

Naruto laid his hand on his lover's shoulder, stopping the stoic ninja from voicing his retort, "Sasuke."

Black locked with blue and Sasuke relented, though grudgedly. "She should've told us."

"We all have our secrets. And for better or worse, we keep them from each other, this was hers."

Glaring purposefully at the blonde, he said, "I know." Then giving one last glance towards Liza, he left the room before he said anything he might regret later.

Turning, Naruto gave her a strained smile and sat down across from her. "Sorry, Sasuke doesn't like surprises. He likes knowing all the facts and then planning around those facts. He does it with everything, it doesn't matter if he's at home or at work, it's just Sasuke."

"I understand." She whispered, looking down at her plate.

"He's also worried and that annoys him even more." He added quietly.

"Worried?" Liza asked, looking up, "About what?"

"You."

"Why?"

Naruto shook his head, "Liza, you're part of our family, like it or not, and with that comes us worriers. We spent countless days looking for you and each time we were terrified that some villager found you and hurt your or you ran away for good. It was also a blow to our shinobi skills…" he admitted slowly, "we're the best of the best, Liza, and we couldn't find _you_, a young foxling who didn't know the terrain very well. It made us feel inadequate to be Anbu."

"When did you get wise? Isn't Sasuke-san supposed to be the one who says all that?"

"When did you start calling him Sasuke-san?" He retorted, smirking at the blush heating up her face.

"I-I-I…"

Laughing, Naruto stood and began collecting the plates, stacking them slowly as he spoke. "It's good to know you can change forms though, it'll really help us out if you agree to our proposition. What do you say to spending the next week or two with our friend Sakura? In all honesty, she could probably use the company… her husband died a couple months ago and the quietness of the house must be killing her."

"How did he die?" She asked, eyes dimming at the thought of her own dead family.

Naruto paused as he picked up another plate. "He had taken his team out for a simple recon mission that went terribly wrong. Lee was given a green team to train and Sakura was their paramedic—"

"I thought married couples couldn't work together."

"They aren't supposed to, but we don't have a lot of medic ninjas and we always send a paramedic out with an untried team on their first A-ranking mission. Sakura had just returned and she was the only one available, so she went with them. No one except Sakura and Lee liked it, but there just wasn't anyone else and Sakura is one of the best medics there are.

"They were only supposed to retrieve a simple scroll that was in an abandoned temple anyway, so there wasn't supposed to be any real danger. The scroll held some old Justus, but no one knew what exactly it held and so Tsunade sent them to retrieve it, from another country that is." Taking a breath, Naruto bit back tears as he thought about the energetic man, no matter how odd he was. "They had just retrieved the scroll from the ruins when another team from an opposing village attacked, hell bent on getting that scroll. Lee's team fought but they were still green and they just couldn't go against a full Anbu team. Lee and Sakura fought side by side, protecting the others until one of them got injured and Sakura got called away.

"She said she never saw it coming, there was no warning or even the slightest sound to when Lee died. They had chased the other team off except for the captain and even killed two when Lee fell, every artery in his body cut open. He lost too much blood too fast and by the time Sakura turned around, he was dead. She never really told me what happened to the Anbu Captain other than he's now dead and I never pushed to know either, but I had a pretty good idea after looking in her eyes. But she led the team back, carrying Lee on her back and then burned him not far from town. She was a wreck for the next six months after that and is finally back on her feet, but I know the silence in that house is probably killing her. Lee always was a loud guy."

"She doesn't want revenge?" Liza asked quietly, frowning at the story.

"No, she doesn't. We know what kind of work we're getting into when we decide to train to be shinobi and kunoichi, our life expectancy isn't that long and so we take what pleasures life gives us and try to forget the times that are harsh. Revenge can only go so far and you can become who you wish to kill by seeking revenge on them."Nodding, she closed her eyes and sat in silence as Naruto began to clear off the table once more. He left her to her thoughts and began washing the dishes, but kept an eye trained on her. She still sat in place, hands in her lap as she thought about what he had said, only the slight rise and fall of her chest testifying she wasn't some weird statue.

Finally opening her eyes, she smiled at him and said, "I'll stay with her."

* * *

Naruto frowned, "Are you sure about this?" 

"It was your idea." Sasuke responded, standing at the steps of Sakura's house.

"I know…but you never listen to my ideas, so why are you starting now?"

"I've been asking myself that same question all morning."

"Hey!" The blonde puffed indigently, giving his lover a gentle shove.

Shrugging, he knocked on the door and waited while Naruto continued to glare at his back. He shot a smirk towards Liza who grinned back while Naruto fumed on Sakura's front porch.

Suddenly the door opened and Sakura leaned against the door frame, shaking her head. "Naruto, you are just as loud as always. I swear, I heard you before Sasuke knocked."

Pouting, the blonde shrank back dejectedly and muttered, "What is this, pick on Naruto day? Did I miss the announcement or something?"

"Or something." Both Sasuke and Sakura deadpanned, causing Naruto to glare at the two.

"Oh, just you wait, I'm not known as the Master of Pranks for nothing and I _will_ get you back."

"Uh-huh." Sakura laughed, but Sasuke looked slightly horrified by the comment.

"Now Naru-chan…" He said, trying to coax his lover into his arms. He had already suffered the day before and he didn't feel like having to face anything like that again. It's downright humiliating when an elite ninja ends up trapped on the couch by a jutsu a certain blonde had set there. It was even worse that he couldn't move as Naruto's vengeance continued and he ended up covered in chocolate and syrup for hours before the jutsu wore off. It had taken him another four hours to get gunk out of his hair and off his body, he burned the uniform. If only his boyfriend put that talent to real use…he'd be Hokage by now.

"Oh no you don't." The blonde growled, "No sex for you and you better watch your back during this mission because I just might let some kunai slip through my defense."

Sasuke spread his arms wide open and tried to gather the fuming blonde into his arms. "Now, don't be rash, you know you don't mean that."

"Am I hearing three weeks celibacy on top of your already prolonged sentence?" Naruto asked, smirking as Sasuke froze once more."Naruto—" He said warningly.

"Yes! Three weeks celibacy, do I hear four? Four?" He paused, looking expectantly at Sasuke who dropped his head in defeat and ignored the urge to pout. "No? Damn, too bad."

Sakura couldn't stop snickering at the two lovers, but immediately shut up when two heated glares turned on her. "So…come in?"

Sasuke stormed in, muttering about blonde idiots who were too damn sexy to resist, and glared warningly at Sakura as he passed.

"Liza?" Naruto asked, his mood immediately perking up at his lover's irate behavior, it was just so much fun annoying the Anbu Captain. It didn't matter that neither of them could last three weeks around each other; the threat was enough to rustle Sasuke's feathers.

"Hai." The girl said, shifting back and forth as she eyed Sakura. So far she seemed nice…

"Well, pleasure to meet you." Sakura said, smiling at the fox girl.

Nodding, she stared down at her feet and consciously moved closer to Naruto. "Thank you for allowing me to stay with you."

"Of course! But I can't believe Sasuke never told me he had a cousin, especially such a cute one." She grinned, chuckling at the girl's blush. "Now come inside, have those boys been taking care of you? Look how thin you are! And I bet that's your only set of clothes too…ugh, men, you can't get them to do anything right when it comes to raising children."

"Now, just hold on here—" Naruto began.

"Look at the poor child, Naruto! She doesn't even have a bag to stay here, which means _that_," she scolded, pointing to Liza's clothing, "is the only thing she has. And knowing you two idiots, you probably forgot to check up and make certain she's eating correctly, poor girl looks starved." She said sympathetically before added under her breath, "Great figure though…"

"Naruto, it's pointless to argue." Sasuke called from the living room as the three walked inside. "Once she has her mind set, that's all there is to it and you know that."

"But she's gonna want to use our money."

"So?" He snapped, glaring at the blonde, "It's not like we're going to be using it to buy condoms and shit, since someone banned me from my fu--" He smirked behind the tanned hand covering his mouth and watched as Naruto turned a lovely shade of red. Nipping at his lover's fingers, Sasuke quickly sucked on the tip of one before the blonde jumped away with a glare, despite his embarrassment.

"_Sasuke."_ He almost whined, but the edge in his voice made it clear that his name was spoken as a threat of impending doom.

"What did Naruto ban you from?" Liza asked innocently.

"Sa. Su. Ke." Naruto growled as the stoic man began to open his mouth, "Say one more word and I'll make sure you will not enjoy a single moment in our bedroom. Got it?"

Scowling, Sasuke slumped against the wall and proceeded to sulk—silently. Uchiha Sasuke did not sulk therefore he settled for leaning against the wall and glaring at the blonde, making certain his lover read the silent message in his eyes. _You will pay later,__ kareshi._

Grinning, Naruto turned back to Sakura and ignored the holes being bored through his back. "Well, Sasuke and I have to get going if we want to leave Konoha by tonight…"

"When will you return?" Liza asked, head tilting to the left.

"Well, you see, we're not sure. We're guessing probably two or three weeks since it's simple recon, but if there's a possibility for something to go wrong, we know its gonna happen."

"Dobe, you're doing this with me, of course nothing will go wrong." Sasuke snapped, his temper returning as they wasted time talking.

Sighing, Sakura shook her head and intervened before Naruto let his tongue go lax. "We all know he's safe with you, Sasuke-kun, but do be careful. I know how bad recon missions to go." She said, her voice dropping to a whisper as thoughts of her dead husband came to mind.

Trying to reassure her, Naruto smiled and hugged her tightly, "We'll come back, I promise."

"And you never break a promise." She said, smiling back, the group lapsing into comfortable silence.

"Excuse me, but may I see where I'll be sleeping?" Liza asked, glancing from one to the other.

"Of course! Actually, I have a few guest rooms, so why don't you just pick whichever one you like most?" Sakura suggested, watching as the fox girl nodded quietly and then disappeared down a hall. Rounding on her two friends, she crossed her arms and said, "Okay, tell me what's really going on."

"Really going on?" Naruto asked, his face scrunched with confusion, "Sakura, we told you, we have a recon mission, nothing else. You know we'd tell you if it were anything more dangerous."

"I meant about that girl, she's not Sasuke's cousin."

"She's not?" He continued, feigning innocence. "Why do you say that?"

Raising an eyebrow, Sakura smiled and said sweetly, "Did you forget, Naruto, that I was joint president of the Uchiha Sasuke FanClub? During my _minor_ obsession with your boyfriend there, I learned everything there was to know about him, except Itachi, but that's because it was confidential. I know his entire genealogy and that girl looks nothing like the Uchiha clan, her eyes aren't even black, which every member of Sasuke's clan had."

"Is that true?" Naruto asked, looking at his lover.

"Hn."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke pushed off the wall and said, "You didn't notice Itachi's children had black eyes?"

"Of course I did, but I didn't know that was your _entire_ clan!"

"The rest are dead, of course that's my entire clan."

"You know what I mean, teme!" He growled.

"Someone tell me who she is, please?" Sakura asked, feeling a migraine coming on from the constant bickering.

"Kyuubi's." Sasuke answered.

"Eh? But isn't Kyuubi a…"

"A fox?" Naruto finished, "Uh-huh. That bastard showed up with Liza about a month ago and then left again, saying something about things he had to take care of. Stupid fox."

"Then why is she human?"

"She's a half demon." He shrugged, hoping to leave out her ability to shift.

"Half…demon."

"Yup! Well, have fun Sakura-chan, we'll be back in a few weeks!" Naruto grinned, then grabbing his lover's hand, formed a seal and disappeared with a poof of smoke.

Like clockwork, ten seconds later, his words finally clicked and Sakura stomped her foot, "NARTUO!" She screamed, her chakra flaring and scaring the birds from the nearby trees.

* * *

Scratching his head, Naruto poured over the scroll they had been given. "You mean to tell me, we have to travel to Gaara's country, find some crystal and bring it back? And we have to stay in one piece? Sasuke, Gaara hates you, or have you forgotten that? _I _might be able to get out in one piece, but if Gaara catches wind of you, someone is leaving in a bag. Why is that anyway? I mean, ever since we first met Gaara and his siblings, you two have had this damned rivalry that went deeper than ours."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "Hn."

"Oh, don't you dare start that 'hn' shit with me, 'suke, tell me what is going on between you two."

"He expressed an opinion that I didn't like, that's all." He murmured before crossing the living room of their house to don his Anbu mask. "It's nightfall, let's move."

Naruto watched his lover silently dress, a frown on his lips, before quietly retrieving his own uniform. He already missed his comforting lover, though overprotective, he almost felt like he was with a stranger whenever Sasuke left for a mission. The cocky, yet soft, bastard would be replaced with this ice prince who hid behind a cool mask of stoicism. It was almost like a light switch the way he could move from one extreme to the other, but he also understood the reasoning for it. A ninja should not be ruled by emotions, there were a lot of things that he wouldn't be able to do if he allowed that to happen, but Naruto could never block out his emotions completely as Sasuke could.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, waiting by the door with his pack in hand.

Looking up, Naruto grinned and quickly placed the mask over his face before using a genjutsu to create an illusionary face. Each Anbu did this to preserve their identities as well as their families from any grudge holding enemies. "Let's go." He said, slipping his own pack over his shoulders and fastening it to his back. He made certain he could still move with ease and then, checking his weapons, moved outside and into the darkness.

Sasuke quietly followed and together, the two slipped through the forest, using a small amount of chakra to keep their footsteps silent. He watched his lover silently, eyes traveling over the lithe form looking for any signs of weakness as Naruto took point. Yet he couldn't find anything wrong with the blonde that would allow him reason to send him back. It had nothing to do with Naruto's passing sickness or even his reliability and usefulness on a mission, but Sasuke found himself easily distracted whenever their teams were paired up. Even if they met in passing while on separate missions, his thoughts would wander and it was almost impossible to keep his mind on the mission with his lover right in front of him. Especially with that ass in tight pants…

"Stop staring." He growled, glancing over his shoulder, blue eyes twinkling with mischief as he ducked beneath a branch and turned his attention towards the ending forest. "Why are we traveling in our Anbu uniforms anyway? I would've thought Tsunade-obasan would've wanted us to travel the open roads."

"Com-link." Sasuke said, before pressing a button on the side of his mask to activate the small device.

"Read me?" Naruto asked silently. The com-link read by the movement of a ninja's lips and tongue, allowing them to speak without a sound and still communicate with each other. He wasn't really certain how they functioned or how they were built, but he did know that Sandaime was the one who created them.

"Hn."

"Sheesh, it's amazing the com-link can translate grunts." Naruto muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Hokage-sama wanted us to get to the Sand Country as soon as possible, she thinks war might erupt there soon and doesn't want us in the crossfire."

"But what about Gaara?"

"What about him?" Sasuke snapped.

Sighing, he shook his head slightly and said, "Never mind."

"We're not to engage in this war, Naruto, we're neutral in this feud because it's between the Sand and the Water country. If we are found to be Leaf ninjas then we will be dragged into the war."

"I understand." The blonde whispered before snapping off his com-link. War was always ugly, but so far, it had always been against people he considered enemies. He had friends in both countries and he didn't want to have to kill them if they became dragged into the war, but he hated sitting by idly and waiting to see which of his friends died.

A hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, pulling him backwards into a hard chest. Naruto reacted immediately and brought a kunai up to his attacker's throat. "Dobe." Sasuke growled, pushing the kunai away, eyes glinting in the moonlight. "Did you hear a single word I said?"

"I turned my link off…"

Resisting the urge to shake his lover, he pointed to a spot ahead of them, but veering off to the right. "Campfire."

_K'so._ Nodding, Naruto replaced his kunai and flipped his link back on. "Gomen."

"Next time damn well tell me before you turn it off." Releasing his hold on the blonde, he activated the Sharingan and swept the forest for movement. "Two are moving towards us," he lipped, "I can see movement near the fire as well, but the two nearing us are definitely ninjas."

"Fight or flight?" Naruto asked, silently retrieving a set of kunai.

"Hn…" Yet he too was reaching for his weapons pouch, layering shirukin between his fingers. "We watch."

"Why are we collecting this crystal anyway?"

"It's why there's about to be a war. Hokage-sama gained word that it was stolen from the Ice Country up north—"

"We visited that a couple years ago, right?"

"—and has fallen into mercenary hands. The Kazekage believes he can use it to barter the crystal to get the Ice Country to send them water as they are in dire need of it."

"And the Water Country?"

Sasuke shrugged, eyes trailing the two ninjas on the ground. "Secretive as always."

"We should continue on, the less people that know of our involvement the better. And if we're nearing Gaara's boarders, you know he'll recognize our styles of fighting. He might be a friend, but I don't think that will stop him from declaring war on Tsunade-ba if he thinks he's being infiltrated."

Acquiescing, Sasuke remained on guard and motioned for Naruto to move first, trusting the blonde's heightened hearing and reflexes to warn them of any impending doom. He continued to watch the two men as Naruto snuck out of harm's way, taking his time to flip up the branches silently and slip from tree to tree. Movement above him caught his eye and he quickly looked up to see a ninja moving to follow his lover. Fear gripping his heart, he quickly lipped, "Follower, six o'clock."

He watched as Naruto flipped up a branch and then back down, two kunai launched straight for the black clad man. Flattening himself to branch, the man paused and then quickly gained his feet again as the weapons sailed over his head harmlessly. Naruto disappeared behind the tree trunk as shirukin scattered the woods after him.

Glancing down from his position, Sasuke saw the other two taking notice and quickly judged his distance before dropping from his branch behind them. They barely registered the slight wind on their backs before he pressed his fingers to their necks. Sending a small amount of chakra through his fingers, he watched as both men jerked before falling to the ground dead. _Amateurs_...Kicking them to the side, he watched as his lover waited patiently as the man came closer and closer.

"Azrael, Damon," Naruto whispered, his two foxes appeared from within the tree and racing towards the man. Azrael jumped through him while Damon leapt towards the man, both foxes draining the man of chakra. Solidifying his paws, Damon pushed off the weakened man and landed nimbly back on the branch, clear blue eyes watching as the man fell to the ground. His body hit the soft ground with a loud thud silently, only the crunching of bones breaking the silence.

Dispersing his foxes, Naruto jumped down beside Sasuke and looked at the man. "He's a shinobi of the Sand." He said, kneeling beside the man as his eyes rested upon the haitiae around his neck. "But what are they doing here in Konoha? I thought we were neutral."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "We are."

"Then—" Spinning around, Naruto searched the forest for the burst of chakra he had felt for a split second. He glanced over at his partner to see Sasuke was also searching the woods, his body tense as he for whoever it was to move, but nothing ever came.

"Let's go." He murmured, casting a quick fire jutsu on the man lying at their feet before disappearing into the thick foliage of the trees. Blue flames licked at the man's body and the stench of burning flesh began to permeate in the air, but neither shinobi took notice, it was a smell they were too well accustomed to.

Naruto nodded absentmindedly while continuing to scan the forest. Eyes narrowing, he used a small amount of chakra to heighten his senses and scanned the woods again, but he couldn't detect anything, not even the smallest hint of chakra. Whoever it was had to be high ranking to be able to cover their chakra to a non-existent level, something that even a jounin would find difficult to completely extinguish, but he couldn't pick up anything. When he was younger, he didn't have the ability to search for chakra beneath it's masking, but now as an Anbu, it had become second nature. Yet he couldn't pick up a single nuance of a chakra signature except for Sasuke's. "Who are you?" He whispered before following Sasuke into the trees.

Watching the two ninjas disappear deeper into the forest, green eyes narrowed dangerously before stalking after them. It wouldn't do to attack without knowing the enemy completely and to ensnare the prey, there was only one chance to succeed. And failure wasn't a word known by Death.

Dhampir  
Page 8  
07/15/07

* * *

To take point is to take the lead, in case someone didn't know that.  
Kareshi: Boyfriend  
Teme: Bastard  
Dobe: Idiot, dead-last, ect...  
Azrael: Angel of Death  
Damon: Demon, just a different pronunciation.

Because it's three in the morning, I'll update this another day with answers to reviews. Thanks for the reviews though! I love reading them, just way too tired to do anything else except collapse into blissful sleep (This shows how tired I am since I never ramble at the end of a chapter)


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** No, I do not own_ Naruto_ nor the characters, except Liza, she's all mine.  
**Note:** Again, if you don't know by now, this IS A SEQUEL to _Living A Lie_

**Almost Real  
**_Chapter Seven_

Naruto glared at Sasuke's back as he grudgedly ate his meal, the black shirt taunt against his muscles as the Uchiha pointedly ignored the eyes boring through his back. Ever since they had set up camp at the edge of the forest, Sasuke had been ignoring him, only snapping out orders as they busied with setting traps, trip wires and alarms around their small camp. Sending Naruto off to collect firewood, Sasuke had quickly laid out the sleeping bags and began to go through their stock of rations. He had already caught a rabbit and quickly put together a small stew before the blonde had returned with the firewood. Taking the wood without a word, he had prepared the meal while Naruto watched in confusion and tried to catch his lover's eyes.

When he had tried to speak to Sasuke, the raven had shoved Naruto's food into his hands with a note of finality and then turned back to brooding by the fire. Flabbergasted, Naruto stomped off—quietly—to where his sleeping bag lay and the glaring contest beginning despite Sasuke's lack of participation. He hadn't lived with the bastard this long to not pick up some of his habits, though the blonde did have a tendency to pick up on the Uchiha's bad habits than good ones…

So that's where they were now, Sasuke long done with his meal and stirring the small fire while Naruto continued to glare at his back, his mood darkening with the longer he was ignored. This was why he asked Tsunade to not put them together on mission, Sasuke became a godly bastard and then it was up to the blonde to smack him around until he became a meager mortal again. But usually it took the raven at least a week before Naruto had to do something… Huffing, Naruto scarfed down the meager bread and meat that still tasted bland no matter what seasonings Sasuke had put on it and then stood to join the other man. Flopping ungraciously beside Sasuke, he opened his mouth to ask what the hell his problem was when Sasuke sent him a freezing glare before grabbing his plate and muttering something about finding a stream to wash their plates off with.

"Why don't you cool yourself off while you're down there, you bastard!" Naruto hissed after him, eyes flashing dangerously as Sasuke disappeared into the dark forest. Still fuming, Naruto looked over the map Sasuke had opened and took a breath; despite whatever tantrum Sasuke was throwing they still had a mission to complete and they both knew that came first. And despite Sasuke's lack of emotions on his face, the younger Uchiha had always been driven by his emotions and followed them without sometimes thinking, but he was still a genius and so that made up for his fault. Biting his lip, Naruto studied the map and looked at the genjutsu Sasuke had erected to keep their cover unawares from Sand shinobi certain to scout the boarder. But it was more likely for there to be Leaf ninja here than Sand as Sand shinobi could sneak into Konoha much easier than vise versa.

There was a good forty miles of desert between the forest edge and Gaara's hidden village that any imposing attacks would quickly be scouted if there weren't strong genjutsu involved, but even then it was hard to sneak into that city. The Sand was well known for having the least amount of spies infiltrate their city due to its geographical location but there were of course problems that accompanied the benefits. Gaara had told him before how there were constant famines and most of their food had to be imported as well as water, which meant if their city was ever placed under siege they would have to surrender or starve. This also caused high demand and thus prices for the necessities of his people, but it also bore amazing ninjas and horses.

Naruto flicked his eyes towards the trees as a small noise caught his attention and watched silently as Sasuke returned with fresh water and clean plates. Placing Naruto's water jug next to the blonde, he then moved to put the other stuff away and stomp out the fire, eyes hidden beneath silky bangs. With a grace Naruto wished he could hold, Sasuke cleaned and erased any signs of their little camp before making a move towards his sleeping bag. Coal eyes glanced at him, the glare still in place, as Sasuke passed and he said quietly, "Get some sleep, we need to get up early."

Finally having enough of the bastard's attitude, Naruto stood up and snapped, "What the hell is your problem? What stick got shoved up your prissy ass, Uchiha?"

Before Naruto could even breathe to start again, he found himself shoved up against a tree and Sasuke's face centimeters away from his. "You want to know what my fucking problem is, Uzumaki? My problem is my idiotic lover turned off his com," Sasuke hissed, shoving him harder into the tree, "placed himself in unnecessary danger," Naruto gasped as his back ground into the tree, "and has been acting like a complete idiot when I know for a fact that he's smarter than this. That's my problem and it's making me sick." _With worry_, he added silently as he shoved Naruto one last time before stalking off to try to get some sleep. He hated and loved these missions with the blonde dobe because he got to spend time with him but he also worried himself to death with all the stupid things he did. He knew he wasn't like this with his own team but any time he and Naruto got paired together, the blonde reverted back it seemed.

"Get back here Sasuke, we haven't finished speaking. Okay, so I screwed up, but that doesn't mean you get to treat me like that!" Naruto almost yelled, angry that Sasuke was being so hostile towards him. "So I turned off my com, get over it."

Sasuke turned around, glaring over his shoulder, "Get over it? _Get over it?_ Do you want me to get over it when you're dead because you turned it off? Because I couldn't warn you in time to get out of your own _fucking_ world and pay attention to what you're doing? If I hadn't grabbed you when I did, you would've walked right into them and then what? You would've been taken by surprise and possibly dead if I hadn't fucking stopped you."

"Listen bastard, I screwed up, okay? But that doesn't give you the right to act all high and mighty on me, you've made mistakes too." Naruto growled out, trying to blink back tears from Sasuke's scathing reprimand. He knew he shouldn't have been off in his own world and he knew that if Sasuke hadn't been there he would've been in deep shit, but that still didn't give him the reason to act all prissy as he had all night long.

"You're right I have, but I learn from them. Even after that fight from earlier you disappeared into your own world and barely paid attention to anywhere we were going. You're an Anbu Naruto, so fucking at like one." He hissed, eyes flashing darkly as the two glared at each other.

Hearing enough, Naruto reacted out of pure anger and raised his fist to hit the raven haired man. But his fist never connected with the pale skin of Sasuke's face, instead Naruto found himself being flipped over and suddenly beneath Sasuke, those obsidian depths glowering at him. "What the fuck!" He bellowed, struggling to get loose but Sasuke just locked his arms over his head and sat down on his lower half to keep the blonde from struggling too much.

"Will you shut up?" Sasuke snapped, "We're at the fucking boarder and trying to keep our presence unknown, I don't need your loud mouth giving away our position."

"Get off me."

"No, not until you stop being foolish, dobe."

"Don't call me that, teme." He yelled again, trying to buck the larger man off of him. "Shut up!"

Naruto smirked cockily, "Make me."

Eyes narrowing, Sasuke swooped down and whispered, "Gladly" before pressing their lips together hungrily. He bit at Naruto's bottom lip, taking the blonde by surprise and used the small gasp he emitted as a chance to slip his tongue into his lover's mouth. There was nothing gentle about their battle of tongues and teeth as they strained against each other, eyes closing as Sasuke demanded Naruto's tongue to relent. When it didn't, he growled and gently bit down on the offending muscle, pulling away slightly and scraping his teeth along Naruto's tongue before nipping at the tip.

Breathing through his nose, Sasuke pushed forward again and slid his tongue against Naruto's, letting it reach every crevice it could of the blonde's mouth. He growled again as Naruto pushed for dominance and this time bit down harshly when Naruto tried to take control, if there was one known fact, he was definitely the seme and nothing was going to change that. When Naruto finally relented, Sasuke began to soothe the bites and nips with his tongue and lips, bringing Naruto into a more pleasurable kiss despite the hard edge that remained.

Trailing one hand down and still holding Naruto's arms with his other hand, Sasuke cupped Naruto's face and traced the scar marks over his cheeks before moving that hand to grip at blonde locks and direct the kiss with more force. Forcing Naruto's head back, Sasuke pulled away and scraped his teeth over the blonde's neck before latching onto that spot between his neck and shoulder. Naruto let out a low groan and bucked against Sasuke again, though this time to look for friction, but Sasuke squeezed his legs together and forced him to still his movements.

Whining, Naruto relented to Sasuke being in charge and could do nothing more than pant as Sasuke continued to slowly torture him with small kisses and nips. Slowly Sasuke made his way to the other side of Naruto's neck and began the same treatment, intent on seeing what whimpers he could elicit from those bruised lips. Groaning, he slowly spread himself over top of the blonde and forced a leg between the blonde's thighs to make Naruto open his legs. Settling between them, he made a one handed seal and groaned as flesh met flesh, making Naruto squawk in surprise before it became a groan of pleasure when Sasuke rocked his hips.

"You're learning too much from Kakashi…" He whispered breathily as Sasuke bit down none too gently on his neck.

"More than you know." Sasuke chuckled darkly before stifling his groan as Naruto began rotating his hips along with his own. Moving lower, Sasuke bit the brown nub of Naruto's nipple and then laved it with his tongue, soothing the pain he had inflicted. Moving to the next, Sasuke repeated the process while his free hand began to play with the now erect nub, smirking as Naruto arched into his touch. Letting out a small whine, he desperately tried to move his hips harder against Sasuke's, trying to urge his lover into getting to the fucking part.

"Sasuke." He whimpered, struggling lightly against the dark haired man.

Detaching himself from the reddened nipple, Sasuke stretched upwards and bit his way up to Naruto's ear. "Do you want to know why I'm so mad, Naruto?" He whispered, his breath hot against the blonde's neck. "Why I'm so aggravated with what you did?"

"Because I made a mistake, you bastard." Naruto groaned, shifting his hips to grind into Sasuke's hip.

Pressing his pelvis down, Sasuke held down Naruto's hips and pulled at those blonde spikes harshly. "No, because I fucking love you." He hissed, nipping at the exposed earlobe. "Because I don't want you to die, because I don't think I could handle it if you did," he licked behind Naruto's ear and then moved to ghost his lips over the blonde's bruised ones, "because if you ever did die, I would die with you."

Naruto looked up with wide eyes as the beginnings of tears adorned those onyx eyes, "Sasuke…" He said slowly before craning his neck upwards and kissing him passionately. He groaned as Sasuke pushed into that kiss and began attacking his mouth once more with a ferocity he rarely used with him. He was usually a sweet and careful lover despite Naruto sometimes wanting that rough sex that would make him feel every second of their love making, but apparently tonight Sasuke was looking for something similar. He gasped as Sasuke ground his knee into his crotch and moaned wantonly as Sasuke bit at his neck and chest while those fingers were running all over his body, touching and pinching where they could.

(Ah, short but rough lemon that you all must miss out on. Sorry, sorry, but I did write it, I promise!** Just e-mail me for the full version (my e-mail is listed in my profile)**

* * *

Groaning, Sasuke sat up and fought back a yawn as he stretched and stood. Looking down at the sleeping blonde, he let his head drop back to the soft grass and began cursing himself in his head. "Fucking idiot!" He growled out loud, the sound waking Naruto up. 

"Wh't did I do this time b'stard?" He asked, yawning as he sat up. Scratching his head, he blearily looked around at his surroundings and then stared. "Aw, shit."

"This never happened." Sasuke said, moving away from the blonde as he searched for his clothes. The only downfall of that jutsu is sometimes the clothes ended up right beside them and sometimes they ended up outside the house. Thankfully they lay in piles only a few yards away and Sasuke quickly collected them. Throwing Naruto's to him blindly, Sasuke began dressing and packing up the camp as he continued to chastise himself in his head.

"Damn it Sasuke, my ass hurts and you're telling me it never happened?" He complained as he stretched, wincing at the ache in his lower back. "I can certainly attest that it did!"

"But does Tsunade have to know about it?" He hissed, quickly packing up their belongings while Naruto slowly began dressing. "I don't feel like being castrated because of this."

"You've got a point…" Naruto pondered, "Okay, it never happened. So let's move it! Weren't we supposed to leave a few hours ago?"

"Hn." Sasuke ground out, glaring at the palpable observation that the blonde had made. "Yes, so get your ass dressed and pack."

"Sheesh, even when you get laid you can't stop being a bastard, can you?" He muttered, but began dressing while he looked at their surroundings. "How many miles are between us and Suna, do you know?"

"At least forty, if not more, so please take your time packing your shit because it's not that far." Sarcasm dripped from his words like honey and Naruto stuck his tongue out at him childishly before beginning to bundle the sleeping bags. He loved the Sasuke at home, but he couldn't stand the Sasuke with him now, of course he wasn't about to voice that either…

"Sasuke, do you ever lighten up?"

"Yes, the ten minutes after sex." He quipped, covering all tracks of their camp before turning to look his half dressed comrade and glaring as the blonde tried to gather their sparse things and pull on his shirt at the same time. "Just…get dressed, I'll finish with the camp." Sasuke sighed, feeling a headache beginning. He knew he was being a bit too callous with his lover, but he was never in a good mood while on a mission and the fact that he was annoyed with himself anyway just made things worse. Knowing the blonde was only a few feet away from him was putting him on edge, he just couldn't kill the need to protect the idiot and even more so when said idiot was being one.

Biting his lip, Naruto looked away and quickly finished dressing, for whatever reason he always seemed to screw up when he was with Sasuke. Solo missions, team missions, S-class missions and multiple missions were easy compared to being on a mission with Sasuke. Within the first day of the mission he had managed to piss Sasuke off at least half a dozen times and put them into danger by having sex with him when they should've been keeping watch. Of course, if Sasuke's offering a night of pleasure beneath those talented hands and that sinful tongue, no one would ever dream of turning him down, it just doesn't happen.

"Let's go." He murmured, turning around as he pulled his mask down over his face. Pressing the power button beside his com-link, Naruto checked his weapons and grabbed his pack off the ground while Sasuke did the same. They were Anbu and no matter what emotions were filling their heads, they still had a job to complete. Crouching slightly, Sasuke leapt into the air and landed effortlessly on a large tree branch, eyes immediately searching their surroundings for enemies. Yet all he could see was the thinning trees and eventually the edge of the desert, as they travelled closer it was going to get harder to hide and Suna's patrol was going to be heavier. Pressing his lips together to form a tight line, he looked over his shoulder at where Naruto now perched.

"I don't see anything." He said, head cocking slightly to the side as he thought. "I don't like it."

"Exactly. It's too quiet…there's no wildlife around here either." Sasuke added.

"I'm going to send out my foxes, you know they can sense chakra better than any ninja."

"Hn."

Making the appropriate seals, Naruto called forth his foxes and whispered gently to them their directions. Ears pricking, they slipped through the tree and onto the ground, senses alert for any chakra signatures that didn't belong to either of them. "Give them a few minutes and then we'll follow them." "Have you tried to create more?"

"No, Kyuubi says it's too dangerous."

"Why?"

"They expand my senses in a way, having three of them would overwhelm me at this point. I might be able to use three one day, but for right now Azreal and Damen are all I have."

Nodding, Sasuke slid down the tree and quickly began to follow the small black figures ahead of them. Slipping between the trees and shrubs, he didn't stop until he was a few feet away from the last bit of cover, eyes searching along the border.

"They're not picking up anything…" Naruto whispered into the com-link, coming to pause beside his lover and survey the desert before them. "Something's off, Sasuke, there should be at least one team around here, but there's just…nothing."

"Once we start, we don't stop until we reach Suna, understood?" He commanded, his stomach coiling with unease. For a country on the verge of war their security was very lax, too lax, and that's what made him uneasy.

"Hai."

Sasuke watched as Naruto withdrew a few kunai and readied himself to sprint into the open, body crouching low to the ground while his eyes remained fixed upon the scenery. Following the example, he suddenly reached out and gripped Naruto's wrist, causing blue eyes to turn curiously towards him. "Be…be careful love." He murmured, his mask hiding the blush appearing on his cheeks.

The blonde chuckled and squeezed Sasuke's hand, "I will be, but promise me the same."

"I always am." The unease in his stomach quelled—a hair—as Naruto sent chakra to his legs and burst into the clearing, immediately dodging the traps set for trespassers. Following his lead, he released two kunai and set off a trap a few yards ahead of them before sliding beneath Naruto's right arm and spinning the blonde around to dodge a release of shirukin coming towards them.

"Thanks." He whispered before flipping them both backwards as another barrage of weapons flew above them. Sasuke reflexively put his hands out as Naruto tightened his hold around his waist and waited for the blonde's signal. Hands touching the sandy ground, he bent his elbows and gritted at the added weight, trusting Naruto's eyes to guard his back. "Now! Right!"

"Shit." He spat as he twisted his body to reposition them and sprung forward, his arms protesting at the angle as he demanded it piston them to the right and away from danger. He hissed as pain spread through his left bicep, but ignored it and landed on his feet, Naruto pulling him to the ground immediately.

"Damn! And that's only six fuckin' feet into their territory." He swore, scanning the area for any other traps and finally let out a sigh of relief. Standing slowly, he dusted himself off and checked his stash before picking up one of the kunai and studying it. "Poison tipped..."

Standing, Sasuke flexed his muscles and hissed as his bicep protested again. Looking down, he swore colorfully as he pulled out the shirukin of his arm and threw it to the ground with distaste. "What kind? I got hit."

"Let me see." Naruto snapped, eyes immediately focusing on the blood dripping freely from the wound.

Sasuke silently obeyed, knowing that his lover knew more about poisons than he did. On the blonde's team he had a poisons expert and the chipper young woman had apparently taught Naruto a few things while out of long term missions. Tearing at the fabric, he let Naruto see his wound and grimaced as the blonde pressed harshly on the sides, causing the blood to flow more forcefully.

"Well, it's bleeding a steady amount…" sticking his tongue out, he licked a little from Sasuke's arm and rubbed the thick, warm substance across his pallet. Frowning, he repeated the process before saying, "I don't taste anything foreign, so I think you're okay, but I'm going to put an 'all' antidote on it anyway." Digging into his back pocket, he pulled out a wrap and a patch already filled with a sticky substance and placed the paste flush with the wound before wrapping it tightly. "Maybe only some were poisoned, that or it's already bled out…"

"Hn." Glaring at the wound, Sasuke flexed his arm and flinched, that would need stitches later, but after the mission if it could last that long.

"Let's finish this quickly so we can get that stitched." Naruto said, brushing the sand from his outfit and putting his medicines away. "You'll survive, right?" He asked, grinning as his lover glared back at him.

"Dobe." He muttered as he passed by, taking lead and keeping his senses open for any approaching shinobi. "An Anbu team has probably been sent to investigate the tripped alarm, I'm certain."

"Then let's get moving!" Naruto all but yelled, sprinting passed the Uchiha and laughing as if they weren't passing into dangerous territory that could cause a war if they were captured.

"You…idiot!" Sasuke growled, watching the blonde whirlwind run across the sand as if it were ice. Speeding after him, he didn't have a chance to notice the gash on Naruto's leg nor the droplets of blood littering the dunes of sand as they traveled across it. But something did…

* * *

Pausing, Naruto winced as he pulled the fabric away from his cut leg, the dried blood causing the material to stick to his hair. Wincing, he stared at the slightly blackened cut and cursed at his body's inability to heal it as it usually would. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched as Sasuke slowed his speed and quickly hid the gash, not wanting to worry his stoic lover. Sasuke was already a bastard on missions, if he was hurt that would just make Sasuke turn motherly on him and he definitely didn't want that. A motherly Sasuke was worse than fighting ten well trained shinobi because he couldn't just kill him, that wouldn't be very loving. 

Sasuke stopped just behind him, cocking his head and Naruto knew he was frowning from behind that mask. "Is something wrong?"

"No…just wanted to make sure I was going in the right direction, it wouldn't be too good if we passed the village and kept traveling, now would it?" He asked, plastering a large grin on his face to put his lover at ease, despite his inability to see it. His tone reacted to how he smiled and if he smiled, he would sound happier.

Obsidian eyes roved over the sweating form of the black wolf Anbu and narrowed as they connected with floundering cerulean that were trying to hide something. "Naruto…" He growled, advancing on his idiotic blonde lover. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing!" He yelped, backing away from the angry man before him. "What makes you think I am?"

"Because you are, I can see it." He snapped, grabbing Naruto's arm and jerking the blonde to him. "Now tell me before I decide to search you here and now."

Huffing, Naruto broke away and retreated a few steps, "I just cut my leg on something earlier, it's nothing to worry about."

"On what?"

He shrugged, refusing to meet Sasuke's eyes.

"_On what?_" He asked more forcefully, not liking how his lover was avoiding him.

"I don't know, but it's not serious." Sasuke clenched his fists, "Then why keep it from me?"

"Because you get all motherly and shit. We're on a mission, I didn't want you babyin' me." Naruto snapped, crossing his arms and glaring at Sasuke with annoyance.

"And what if it was poisoned?"

"It wasn't."

"Oh, now you're an expert. You _think_ I wasn't but want to take precautions, but not on yourself."

"Even if it was, my body would take care of it; you know that Kyuubi's healing capabilities were passed onto me even after we separated."

"You shouldn't have kept it from me." Sasuke all but growled, "I don't care if I get 'all motherly and shit' if you're inability to perform affects the mission then it's a damn big problem."

"It isn't affecting the mission!"

"Don't think I haven't noticed the steady drop in speed, dobe."

Naruto glared and stomped towards his lover, "This is why we can't be on mission together, we fuckin' argue the entire time. You're too anal, I'm an Anbu captain too, or have you forgotten that? I haven't lost a single person on my team and we all come back without any major injuries. So stop treating me like I'm your subordinate, because I'm not."

"Then act like you're an Anbu captain."

Clenching his fists and getting ready to punch the prick, Naruto's eyes lifted from the white wolf's mask and focused behind Sasuke's shoulder, some movement catching his attention. Eyes widening, he watched as the sand began to give way and _something_ began to rise from the ground. Sand slid off the creature's back and revealed a metallic spiked back, the spikes moving with each breath the creature took. Larger than a horse, the creature rose as sand gave way until it was standing ankle deep in the tan sand. Red beady eyes glared at the two ninjas as a tail swished behind the dog form, the creature pulling its blackened paws from the sand and stepping lightly on top.

Naruto watched as the sand didn't even sink beneath the large dog's weight, the creature's mouth pulled back into a snarl and his form crouching low to the ground as it waited to pounce on its victims. "Watch out!" He yelled, tackling Sasuke to the ground as the dog sailed above them, landing a few yards away and turning to attack again. "Holy shit, what is that?" Naruto cursed as he regained his footing and turned to meet the monster.

Sasuke leapt into action and turned to face whatever Naruto saw, his own eyes widening as the demon dog snarled at them. Moving across the sand with an unnatural grace, the demon snapped its teeth shut and rushed them again, its tail held high and ready to strike. "Shit." He growled as he dodged razor tipped claws while Naruto slid beneath that dangerous tail.

"You okay bastard?" The blonde called, arming himself.

"Fine, dobe." Sasuke grunted, throwing a handful of kunai at the demon.

The kunai clashed with the demon's 'fur' and Sasuke clenched his teeth as the weapons ricocheted off of the dog's back. "Hey! Watch where you're throwing those things."

"Not even a fucking broken hair."

"Are you sure that it's hair?" He asked incredulously.

"Want to get close enough to find out?"

Sliding out of the way, Naruto flipped around and glared at the demon now circling, pushing them together. "No, I'd rather not, but I'm starting to get the idea that I won't have a choice."

"Is it's back metal?"

"I just want to know _what_ it is."

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke returned his weapons and quickly made the signs of the tiger, horse and , before yelling "_Katon Ryūka no Jutsu_ " and blowing fire at the demon dog. Growling, the demon walked through the flames and set its blood red eyes on Sasuke, it's teeth bared threateningly at the dark haired shinobi. Closing his eyes briefly, Sasuke focused on his blood limit and reopened them, his own eyes spiraling red and black as he stared back at the creature. "You're not the only one with red eyes."

Watching closely, he smirked as the demon's speed considerably slowed down and he easily followed the lanky movements, slipping beneath the dog's defenses and shoving the palm of his hand up into the demon's chest. Hissing, he quickly pulled away and sprinted a safe distance before looking down at his bloodied hand. Flexing his hand, he stared at the clean cut wounds and glared at the demon. "Damn it."

"Are you okay?" Naruto yelled from the other side, cursing again as the demon turned on him, snapping its teeth inches from his body. Slamming his hand down on the dog's muzzle, he glared and said, "What the hell is your problem?"

Growling, saliva dripped from between its teeth and hissed as it touched the sand, the demon lowering its head and stalking towards the blonde. Eyes full of rage, it lunged at Naruto and stopped short as something grabbed its tail, its gaze snapping to look behind at the replica holding its tail. Shifting its tail, the demon knocked the bushin across the sand and turned back its prey only to find Naruto no longer there.

"Hey demon dog, meet my demon foxes." Naruto yelled, Azrael and Damen sitting beside him. Sprinting towards the dog, the two foxes lunged at it and yelped in pain as they were thrown to the side. Blue eyes looked up in surprise as the dog grabbed one of his foxes with its jaws and clamped down, the chakra fox dispersing in a wave of black chakra. The other growled and lunged once more at the dog, baring its teeth and sinking them into the demon dog's neck.

Sasuke saw his chance and rushed the dog, a shirukin drawn and aimed for the demon's neck. Yet he gasped as his shirukin was met with a clash of metal and immediately moved away to survey his enemy once more. "What the hell?" He muttered as he saw a six foot tall man standing where the demon dog had originally stood. Dressed in grey and wielding a large sword, the man held Naruto's fox by the scruff and tossed the tired fox back towards the blonde.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto yelled, calling Azrael back to him. The silver haired man smirked and looked at Naruto, his red eyes boring into the blonde Anbu. "Y-you're the demon?"

"It's an inugami…" Sasuke whispered, watching as the man's movements hadn't changed much from the grace the dog had shown. Though rarely seen, the inugami were dog spirits that could take any form and acted independently from its master. All it needed was an order to carry out and it would until either it died or succeeded, or in the rare case of it being betrayed or offended by its master would it give up.

"Sasuke, watch out!" Naruto yelled, pushing the Anbu down as the inugami attacked, his sword slicing over where Sasuke had been standing. "And you call me a dobe, what the hell were you doing?" He hissed at his lover, eyes dark with anger.

"Get off me." Sasuke said, pushing at the blonde.

"Damn it, the fucking bastard got me." Naruto panted, rolling to the side as the slice in his arm bled into the sand.

"Can you still fight?" He asked, immediately on guard and berating himself for getting distracted earlier. Because of him Naruto was now hurt and that was unacceptable. He was supposed to protect the idiot, not get him hurt.

Pushing off the ground, Naruto wiped the blood off and said, "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Where is it?"

"I don't know, but that thing hurt my foxes and nothing I seem to do hurts it. What the hell is it, Sasuke?"

"An inugami."

"Are you sure?"

Sasuke nodded, eyes darting across the desert and looking for movement. "What I want to know is who sent it? They're ordered to attack certain people usually."

"Who's powerful enough to control a demon like that?"

"The Fourth sealed Kyuubi, right? An inugami isn't as powerful as that."

"Yeah, but no one could control Kyuubi, that's why he was sealed away. I certainly don't control the damn fox."

Whirling around, Sasuke lifted his weapons and blocked the demon's sword while Naruto swept inside and stabbed a kunai into the demon's stomach. He then pushed his palm up into the inugami's jaw and knocked the demon off balance, stumbling away in the process. The demon fell to the ground, but was back up in seconds, pulling the kunai from its stomach and growling at the two Anbu. Dark chakra began to emanate from the inugami as it glared at Naruto, blood dripping from its wound, the blood a darker red than it should be.

Panting, Naruto ignored the blood flowing from his arm and the faintness he was beginning to feel. The adrenaline running through his veins was pumping his blood faster and it certainly wasn't showing any signs of slowing despite his accelerated healing. Maybe the poison was slowing down his body's reaction time to wounds, but whatever the reason, now wasn't the time to dwell on why. Drawing a kunai, he glared back at the demon and waited for the dog to move, eyes watching for the slightest hint to when it would attack.

Kicking up sand, the demon pulled its chakra in and with it the sand, causing a whirlwind of sand that blocked their view of the demon. Naruto looked around wildly for where the demon had gone, but cried out as sand suddenly blew into his eyes, blinding him. Hearing the low growl from behind him, he twisted away and gasped as something punctured his side before it was torn away. Falling to the ground, he tore his mask off and began rubbing at his eyes, his mind spinning from the pain and blood loss.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, punching the demon in the face and sprinting to his fallen lover. "You need to get out of here."

"Not without you." He growled, blinking to clear his eyes, the sand gritty beneath his eyelids.

"It's after you, it's targeting you." He whispered, picking Naruto up in his arms and moving away, glaring over his shoulder at the inugami. "Please, you need to leave."

"Not without you." He repeated, "Now put me down."

"_Naruto._"

Glaring up at Sasuke, he caught a blurry figure coming towards them and gripped Sasuke's shirt. "Shit, he's coming back!"

Whirling around, Sasuke crouched and kicked out, trying desperately to balance both of them and not drop Naruto. His kick connected, but the demon didn't move and Sasuke suddenly found himself being thrown to the side, his lover slipping from his grasp and rolling a few yards away. Leg protesting, Sasuke stood once more and rushed the demon, slipping beneath the sword and tackling the man-beast to the ground. Knocking the sword away, he pulled a kunai and aimed at the demon's throat, only to have the blade stab a hand, bone causing the kunai to stop.

Grabbing Sasuke's throat, the inugami tightened its hold and threw the ninja off, pinning Sasuke to the ground. Growling, it glared down at the man and cut off the airflow as Sasuke struggled to get free. Grabbing the hilt of the kunai embedded in its hand, the demon tore the weapon out with its teeth and flexed the injured hand. Bucking up, Sasuke tried to throw the demon off, but it wasn't moving from its spot above him. A knee pressed into his gut while a hand caught his right arm and his left wasn't strong enough to pull the demon's hand away from his throat.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, standing though wobbly. "I'm the one you want, right?" He growled, panting as the demon looked at him intently. Eyes narrowing, the demon let Sasuke go and stood. "Holy shit! That's true?" He exclaimed as the demon picked up its sword and advanced on him. Sasuke was slowly getting to his feet, but the lack of air had him disoriented and his breathing was weak and painful. Eyes wide, Naruto knew he wouldn't be able to avoid a head on attack and tried to prepare himself as much as possible. "Kage no bushin!" He growled, making the signs, and quickly stopped as he felt his chakra begin to lose stability. _No!_ Closing his eyes, he wrapped his arms around his stomach and tried to hold back its release, but he found himself quickly losing control.

Crying out, his eyes were forced open as it erupted from his body like a shockwave, black chakra slamming into the demon as Naruto collapsed to the ground, muscles convulsing. He watched in horror as Sasuke was thrown from where he stood and slammed into the ground, his chakra surrounding the black haired shinobi and he struggled to control it enough to protect his love. Focusing on Sasuke's form, Naruto stabilized his chakra enough to protect him, but the demon still stood, its own chakra forming a protective shield around the inugami.

Chakra dispersing, Naruto looked up from where he knelt and quickly sought out his lover, breathing a sigh of relief as Sasuke stood looking worse for wear but alive. Struggling to his feet, he then turned his attention to the demon and glared at the smirking inugami. Not a single singe mark could be seen on the demon and barely looked fazed by the strong chakra that had slammed into it. Hands resting on his knees, Naruto timed his breathing and watched as the demon stopped before him, the sword it had been carrying now pushed tip down into the sand. "Damn it." He whispered, the fucking demon knew just how weak he was, there wasn't any way he would be able to pick that sword up with the shape he was in, he could barely stand.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled out hoarsely, stumbling towards them. "Get the hell out of here."

Smiling sadly, he murmured, "Sorry 'suke," and pushed himself up until his back was straight and he stood tall, proudly glaring at the demon.

Smirking, the demon snapped its teeth teasingly and growled deep in its throat as it ran long fingernails along Naruto's cheek. Letting those fingers trail down to Naruto's neck, they traced his jugular and then moved away, its nails growing thicker and longer like claws as the demon moved to tear open the blonde's neck. Squaring his expression, he closed his eyes so he couldn't see the horror and helplessness that would be on Sasuke's face and waited for the claws to bite through his skin. The demon's left hand tangled in his hair and bent his neck downward to bear his throat and Naruto clenched his teeth. But instead hearing Sasuke's despairing scream, he heard a howl of rage and suddenly that hand was forcefully torn away from him. Stumbling back, Naruto opened his eyes in shock and stared at the tall wall of sand separating the demon from him. The sand suddenly bowing, he watched as it surrounded the demon and shaped into a coffin before tightening, the demon's call suddenly being stopped short as blood poured onto the ground, staining the sand red.

Watching as the bloody sand fell to the ground, Naruto stared into the cold glare of sea green eyes framed by a shock of red hair. "Gaara…" He whispered as the Kazekage along with a group of Anbu approached him, one of the masked men breaking rank and sprinting to retrieve Sasuke. Holding his injured arm against his chest Naruto smiled brightly at Gaara and swayed towards them, his vision darkening with each step. "Damn, am I glad to see you." Then his world titled violently and he suddenly felt weightless as he gave into the darkness, his mind distantly wondering why someone was shouting his name.

Catching the blonde, Gaara shook him lightly and whispered his name without any response. Sasuke suddenly fell beside them and felt for a pulse, Naruto's name tumbling from his lips in a mantra. Glaring hard at the black haired Anbu, he turned his gaze towards the pile of blood and gore not two yards from them and his lips formed a thin line. There were too many questions to ask just yet, but two in particular came to mind, _what was that __blast of chakra and wha__t the hell had been__ attacking them?_

Dhampir  
Page 12  
11/28/07

* * *

**Note:** Inugami, a dog spirit that can take any form and act independently on its own. Does have a master and will listen to the master as long as the master doesn't offend or betray the inugami.

**_Onto the Reviews:  
_**

**KiokuUchiha:** Well, there's your smut! You just have to visit AFF for it…or ask me for it. I can't promise it's really good though, just kind of rough, fast smutty sex. But…if you like that, then here it is! And no, it's not Gaara, but good guess.

**NaTsUkO-ChAn:** Nope, not Gaara, sorry, try again!

**Kuroi Neko Kami:** Will Liza show up…I can't even really answer that. She does have a reason for being in the story though, I do promise that. And the crystal…well, it's kind of hard to explain. Pretty much it's very important to the Snow Country, but that's a secret kept by the leader there (which will be explained in the next chapter), but Gaara wants to use it as a bargaining chip of sorts. The Snow Country is full of ice, frozen water, and his country is dying from lack of water, so he wants to strike a deal to create some kind of exchange, the crystal for water.

**RainWisher: **Well, thank you for that kind compliment. I'm glad you enjoyed "Living A Lie" I think it was Kyuubi-kun's stories that got me into yaoi (that and Ai No Kusabi) but I'm very flattered by your review. I hope this story will continue to be up to par with the other chapters and that you enjoy them.

**Victoria Noble:** Gaara or Naruto's dad…I hadn't even thought about Naruto's father, but no, neither! Try again, if you can. And thank you for Naruto's foxes, Azrael is Angel of Death and Damen is something I picked up from the Black Jewels Trilogy (which everyone should read) as the Son of Satan.

**Sailor Epyon:** Hehe, I love writing the little spats, they're always fun. And yup, Gaara has arrived! Yes, I miss Gaara too, he was awesome!

**Tasneem: **The link, I'll put it in my profile to see my AFF account, okay? Or you can e-mail me and I'll send them to you that way.

**-fukafukashita-:** Wow, that's a fun name to type. And that character will appear soon, I promise. Now you just have something else to worry about, right? And the chakra thing will be explained, but just not yet. A little more waiting but no, I'm not going to have him explode. I'm a sadist as well, but not that much of one.

**Lily-velle:** I'm so sorry for never sending you the lemon scenes! I totally forgot and with my internet so sporadic, my online time has been cut more than in half, more like 90 percent of my time is offline now cries. I'll try to remember, but if not, I'm putting the link in my profile for you to use.

**MikoKriszty:** I hope the lemon scene wasn't too disappointing! Hehe, but yeah, I do the same thing sometimes. And yes, I'm evil for killing Lee, I know.

**Guren:** Yes, Naruto is no push over, that's for sure.

**SakuraKissy:** The Sand nin's are in Konoha because of the crystal Naruto and Sasuke are being sent to steal. They're trying to work out something to protect their treasure. Liza will show up again, I promise and you'll learn more about her, hehehe.

Thank you everyone for reviewing, but I only review those with questions (usually) so thank you and I enjoyed them all so you can continue to do it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Naruto_ nor any of the characters. Except **Liza** she's all mine.  
**Note:** As always, this is a sequel, read _Living A Lie_ first.

**Almost Real  
**_Chapter Eight_

Sasuke glared at the red head who dared hold his blonde lover, the said red head glaring right back at him. The animosity between the two was almost visible and even the Anbu were keeping their distance from them, afraid that while they might not lash out at each other there was high possibility they would lash out at them.

"I can carry him." He spat, even while he cradled his injured arm.

Gaara just stared at the raven haired man, his eyes sweeping in the bloodied and ripped clothing and the haggard look on the raven's face. He snorted and looked ahead of him once more, that comment didn't even dignify a response.

Sasuke growled, eyes flaring red, but he knew it was pointless. Even if he could carry the blonde, he knew Gaara still wouldn't hand his lover over to him and there was nothing he could do about it. Despite how strong he was, his chakra was drained and he was hurting all over, not to mention if he did try to hit the red head, he'd be attacked by a team of Anbu in seconds. The damn freak was the Kazekage after all, which just irked him even more because he couldn't just beat the shit out of a potential ally, Tsunade forbade it after he placed one of the province lords in the hospital. It wasn't his fault the idiot couldn't keep his mouth shut and he shouldn't have been mouthing off about his lover in front of him either.

"We should arrive within an hour or so." Gaara suddenly said, eyes scanning the distance. To their right were the canyons that hid their town and to their left were endless miles of sand. While most shinobis were scouting the surrounding areas of their villages, his were usually working to push back the sand from their village and scouting for water sources. Their main source was quickly drying up and no one could find the cause of it, all they could do was try and find another…but their searches had returned fruitless so far and Gaara didn't know how much longer their well would last. And while most of his shinobi combated with mostly sand, wind and rock, the few water born shinobi were finding their jutsus to be failing from the lack of water around them. For a while, those who could collect water from their surroundings were harvesting it for the village, but water was becoming scarcer by the day and without water, there is only death.

If something wasn't done soon, they would have to abandon the village and as much as he despised that village, those within it loved it. And as Kazekage, it was his responsibility to make sure the people were happy and remained where they were until they wished to leave. But already the council was pushing for him to abandon the village, too many were dying from dehydration as it was and waiting too much longer would be disastrous. Already people—shinobi and civilian alike—were having water rationed out and even the water they were receiving from allying villages wasn't enough. Caravans were attacked by bandits and missing nins, tens had already died because of it and with these attacks precious water was lost.

It was because of this problem he had joined the caravan this time around. The last four had been attacked and though his ninjas survived, the water did not. Apparently it was better for the water to be lost all together than to let the people of his village have it. And despite the allies Suna had, not all were willing to help them during this drought as they had a pact with the village of Snow and Ice as well. Usually this wouldn't affect trade and supplies, but rumors had been flying about and they were saying he had taken their precious stone.

A murderous look crossed his face, too fleeting for anyone to notice, as he thought about the damn stone. He had been too busy trying to save his people to take a detour trip and steal some rock from them and he had no ninjas to spare that could make that trip either. All were either pushing back sand or searching for water, there hadn't been a single real mission in months now as all their efforts were placed into survival. Currency was no longer an importance, food and water was how the ninjas wished to be paid and Gaara did what he could do just that. Yet still, people were dying from malnourishment and dehydration and he couldn't do much for them except end their suffering.

There were still times when he wondered if the village would've been better off with a different Kazekage, but once more, it didn't matter. He was the Kazekage and therefore responsible for the village, if's didn't matter and were a waste of time to brood over, as he was certain the Uchiha trailing him was doing. Glancing over his shoulder, he almost smirked at the sight of the worn down Anbu fighting to remain on his feet and refusing help. He had thought the Uchiha would've passed out by now, but he was proven wrong about just how stubborn the raven was. Naruto had told him that once, but he hadn't really believed someone could be as stubborn as the blonde claimed Sasuke to be. Yet as he watched the bleeding man stumble behind him, he felt a bit of awe towards the raven because he saw that the Uchiha would never give up unless he were dead.

"Kazekage-sama…" One of his Anbu whispered, appearing the man's side and pointing at the village.

Raising his eyes, he resisted the urge to roll them and sighed as he caught sight of his older brother and sister. Temari waved a hand in greeting and smiled while Kankuro looked pissed off to be standing out in the heat while wearing black. Yet the smile dissipated and the glare lessened as they noticed the body in Gaara's hands. A bell tolled in the distance to alert the people of their arrival and Gaara straightened his back and smoothed his features, making certain the worry in his heart was not reflected upon his face.

"Gaara!" Temari yelled, pulling Kankuro behind her. "W-who is it this time?"

"He isn't dead." The red head murmured, shifting the blonde in his arms. "But he does need help along with the Uchiha."

Looking over Gaara's shoulder, Temari stared at the heaving man behind him and frowned, "Uchiha?"

Red eyes looked up at her, spinning frantically before suddenly fading into black, the last of his chakra reserves running out. Stumbling, he fell to the ground and found he no longer had the strength to push himself back up. But Naruto was safe at least, they had made it to the village and that's all that mattered to him. Lying against the cold sand, he closed his eyes and finally let his mind turn towards the dark abyss that had slowly been clouding his vision. As much as he disliked Gaara, at least he knew Naruto was safe with the psychopath.

"Holy shit!" Kankuro exclaimed as Temari pushed gently passed Gaara to kneel at the Anbu's side. "What the hell happened out there Gaara?"

Gaara flicked his gaze from the Uchiha to Kankuro and then to Naruto. "Inugami."

"What? But then that would mean someone sent it after them." Temari whispered, checking over the Uchiha's vital signs. Growling, she stood and rounded on her brother, hands set firmly on her hips. "What the hell were you thinking letting him walk here in his condition?"

"Temari-san! He's Kazekage—" One of the Anbu began to protest.

"I don't give a damn if he's the Hokage, that boy shouldn't've been walking in his condition. And Gaara, you know better than this."  
Gaara smirked, "He refused help, how could I refuse his request to walk?"

"Well, I'm certain you refused him wanting to carry Naruto."

"Of course." And with that, he walked into the village, leaving his sister to deal with the grouchy Uchiha. Cradling the blonde, he relished in the scarce chance to hold someone so close to him and immediately headed for the infirmary. It wasn't love, he knew that, but it was probably the closest thing he'd ever feel to love. He wasn't certain what the possessiveness he felt for the blonde was and though he knew Naruto loved Sasuke, he always felt as if the Uchiha wasn't good enough. And yet he couldn't think of anyone else who would be good enough for the blonde, there was no one even near Sasuke and yet even Sasuke wasn't worthy in his eyes.

Striding towards the infirmary, he didn't even wait for the nurses before laying him on one of the beds and stripping the blonde of his clothes. He slowly moved away to allow the nurses and doctors to examine his friend, but he refused to leave the room. Something wasn't right…he knew Naruto and Kyuubi were no longer connected, but the hyperactive man had retained Kyuubi's natural healing ability. It had taken them a good two hours to reach the town and the blonde had yet to even stir, but even more worrisome were the wounds and bruises that still remained. His body wasn't healing and that meant he could possibly die.

* * *

Temari joined her little brother by leaning back against the wall and tilting her head to observe him. Gaara hadn't grown much taller than his teenage self and Temari felt as if she towered over him at her 5'11" height, his only being 5'5". She had brought Sasuke into the room not longer after Gaara had arrived and now the room was a flurry of activity as they prepped both boys for stitches and splits and whatever they might need. "You're confused." She whispered, watched as the flickering emotions in his eyes disappeared.

He slid his gaze towards her and cocked his head, his own silent question being asked and understood.

"About Naruto, right?" She smiled when he slowly nodded, "Come on, we're just being a bother to them in here. They'll be fine, but you need to let the villagers see you're all right. People are already saying you've been mortally injured since they saw you enter the infirmary."

Gaara snorted, but followed her lead anyway. There was a reason she was his advisor and it wasn't because she was his sister. She thought of things he wouldn't and either cover for him or make him do them…he preferred the former but she usually made him do the latter. Gaara folded his hands in front of him as they walked and nodded in general directions as people waved at him and children hugged his legs. Despite his stoic expression, he couldn't keep the slight tilt of his lips hidden as he walked through the village. It had taken a few years, but the people had finally accepted him and no longer feared his powers or his demon. People were actually happy to see him return from missions instead of cursing his existence as before.

"Kankuro is distributing the water, but we still haven't had any luck of finding our own source again." Temari said, sighing as she stared up at the bright sun. "We're ready to leave if we need to, but I love this place, even if it is just desert."

Gaara nodded, but kept his thoughts to himself. As much as the others loved Suna, he did not despite his affinity for sand based jutsus. The place held many memories of pain and hatred and if they relocated their little town, he certainly wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Smiling at his own joke, he shook his head and turned his attention back to his sister.

"…and then this fiasco happens! It's not like we have enough problems as it is, now we have inugami to think about?"

"It was after Naruto." Gaara murmured, eyes staring straight ahead.

"How do you know that?"

"The Uchiha said it focused on Naruto."

"But why? Kyuubi isn't part of him anymore so there's nothing to gain from capturing Naruto."

The red head nodded, his thoughts had been the same. Nothing could be gained from attacking the blonde except angering quite a few people and countries. So then that would make it a personal vendetta, but what worried him was inugami worked by scent and sight. Whoever was after Naruto knew who he was, where he lived and was close enough to the blonde to get something that smelled like him. And if they knew where he was going to be, then this silent enemy also knew who the Black Wolf was. No, he didn't like this at all.

"Gaara?"

"Inform Hokage-sama that someone close to Naruto wants him dead." He growled, hands clenched tightly in front of him.

Temari gasped, "Surely he's been accepted in his own village by now!"

"By most, not by all."

"I thought it was illegal to own one of those creatures anyway."

"Yes, but not to pay for one's services."

"Damn!" She hissed, anger sparking in her eyes. "I'll send one of our shinobi immediately. Maybe they can gather some more water while they're at it."

He nodded, falling once more into his brooding silence. He watched as his sister departed from him and hailed down one of their elite ninjas with the mission report. Of course, there was also the reason to why the blonde and his boyfriend were even in Suna. With the recent rumors, he wouldn't be surprised to find out they were here to see if he did have the blasted stone, but he couldn't help but feel a little hurt by it.

"Kazekage-sama!" Someone called and he turned around, smiling slightly at the young girl running up to him. Kneeling down, he tilted his head to the side and waited as she caught her breath. Looking up, she smiled and handed him a few wilting flowers, "Sorry they're not that good, but they're the best of my garden…" Her smile wavered and she looked down at her feet, suddenly the flowers she was so proud of she wasn't. The Kazekage had to have seen such prettier ones than that!

Plucking them from her small hands, he held them gently and used his other hand to bring her chin up. "They're beautiful." He said as gently as possible, giving her a small smile.

She grinned, showing off her missing teeth, and laughed. "You don't look as scary when you're smiling Kazekage-sama."

Patting her on the head, he stood and shook his robes of sand. "You should head home soon…" he paused to look at the setting sun and then added, "Classes will begin in a few hours."

"Hai!" Then giggling, she turned around and ran back down the road she came. He watched her, holding her few flowers delicately, before moving towards his office. So much had changed since they began losing water, the civilians of his village now lived at night when the air was cooler and less water was needed. Classes began at five and most people slept during the day except for the ninjas, they worked on shifts. In three month segments, ninjas either worked twelve hour shifts starting at six in the morning or six at night, only the most elderly of the ninjas remained on the night shift to keep them from having heat strokes.

The two Anbu saluted as he passed through the doors to his office and he slowly moved towards his desk, the papers stacked neatly in piles by importance. That paperwork never did seem to disappear… Sighing, he sat down and laid the flowers beside him, staring thoughtfully at them. If they stayed, rarities like flowers would become non-existent, but where would they go if they had to leave? Would they have to join another village and lose their heritage? Or could they forge ahead and forcefully settle somewhere else?

He didn't want war, but he wasn't sure how to avoid it without dying out either. Closing his eyes, he sighed again, sometimes he really hated being Kazekage…

* * *

Sasuke groaned, slowly sitting up only to fall back down when his ribs protested. "Naruto…" He whispered, blinking his eyes into focus and looking around the white room.

"He woke up briefly last night, but fell asleep soon after. It's been less than a day since you both came here." Gaara said, sitting by the window.

Turning to look at the village leader, he noticed the lack of robes and relaxed, "Is he all right?"

"He will be."

"How badly is he injured?" He asked, his throat protesting the words. Slowly he brought a hand up to touch the bruised skin and tentatively swallowed, "Where is he? Let me see him."

"He has a few injuries, mainly superficial. Bruising and depleted chakra, but otherwise fine. He's in the room across the hall and no, you cannot see him. He's resting as you should be." He answered, "The doctors can find no reason for his fainting though…"

Sasuke frowned, his eyes locking onto the door and wishing he could see through it. He wanted to go over there and choke the blonde until his lover told him what the hell was going on with him. After this mission he was going to drag the idiot himself to Tsunade and not let him leave until they figured out what was wrong.

"Uchiha?" The red head prodded, green eyes glinting in the darkened room.

"He's…he's been acting strangely lately. He's been having trouble with his chakra, bouts of weakness and lethargy, but he won't tell me what's wrong."

Gaara narrowed his eyes, but remained quiet, contemplating what he'd learned.

Licking his chapped lips, he once again pushed himself up and hissed as his whole body protested the move. "How badly am I injured?"

"Fractured wrist, bruised windpipe, four cracked ribs, sixty eight stitches and a sprained ankle." Gaara counted off, "Oh, and a concussion."

Sasuke snorted, "Of course." Stifling a yawn, he couldn't stop his eyes from drooping as the drugs began to take affect once more.

"Sleep, Uchiha." Gaara murmured, watching as the raven struggled to stay awake.

"No. The Inugami…" He growled, struggling to remain awake.

"Is dead."

"I have to warn Hokage-sama."

"Already done."

Glaring at the young leader, he tried again, "Someone has to—"

"Naruto is already being guarded. Go to sleep, Uchiha."

"But—"

"I _will_ call the nurse." He threatened, glaring back at the ninja. He smirked as Sasuke sunk down into the bed and closed his eyes, scowling in his general direction. Remaining by the window, Gaara continued to keep watch as he studied the Uchiha. Temari was right, he was confused by Naruto but he didn't feel threatened by the blonde's choice in lovers, just protective. He knew if Sasuke ever hurt Naruto—again—he would kill the raven, but he didn't want Naruto for himself. He just wanted the blonde to be happy.

Noticing Sasuke's breathing, Gaara snorted, it seemed that even sleeping that scowl didn't leave the Uchiha's lips.

* * *

"OW! Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

Sasuke sighed, staring at the blonde sitting on his lap and straddling his entire body. He had a fucking broken wrist in a cast and the damn blonde sat here crying over a few stitches being removed. "Dobe, sit still!" He snapped, cranky at having been woken up by his energetic lover crying.

Turning pouty lips on him, "B-but Sasuke, it hurts!"

"You're a ninja, a jounin ranked ninja, and yet you can't handle a suture removal?"

"I've never had to have them before! No one told me they hurt like this!" He whined, jerking his hand away as another stitch was removed. "Damn it, ow! Can't you be gentler?" Naruto asked, tears falling down his face.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "You're such a girl."

"_What?!_ I am not!" He snapped, before yelping as another was removed.

"Only three more, Uzumaki-san." The nurse said haggardly, her own nerves quickly fading.

"You can't take a few little snips, you're a girl."

"I believe, Uchiha, you've forgotten a few important things about my anatomy." Naruto growled, eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"I haven't forgotten, but that doesn't make you any less girly." He shrugged, staring up at the ceiling and completely ignoring the Uchiha ranked glare aimed at him. "Why do you think you always bottom if not because you're the girl in the relationship?"

Sputtering, Naruto glared and didn't even notice the next suture being removed. "Well, who's on top right now, huh Sasuke? _Me_!"

"We're not having sex." He shrugged, smirking as the blonde turned a light shade of pink.

"Do you have to be so free with that phrase?"

"Does the word 'sex' bother you, dobe?"

Growling, Naruto sulked and sighed dejectedly. "You're as bad as Kakashi. If not worse."

"I'll take that as a compliment then."

With a small cheer, the nurse stood up and dropped her 'weapons' on a nearby cart. "All done, Uzumaki-san!"

"Huh?" Naruto turned to look at his hand and blinked at the smooth skin left behind. It had been a week since Gaara found them and his powers had returned with a vengeance, healing all his wounds in a few minutes and pouring into his reserves. Though he had woken up a few times, for the first three days he was no better than dead to the world and the day following he was so weak he didn't even try to get out of the bed. The moment his wounds healed, he was out of the bed and into Sasuke's while the nurses and doctors followed him in awe. It seemed he had lost at least one admirer though from how the nurse was acting. "Well…that didn't hurt too much."

The nurse let her head bang gently on the door before opening it. "Please remember that next time, Uzumaki-san." She sighed tiredly, leaving and closing the door behind her.

"What was that about?" The blonde asked, blinking at the door the woman had disappeared through. A blinding pain exploded from the back of his head and he yelped, turning around to glare at Sasuke.

"What? You're an idiot." He groused, pushing the blonde off his lap with his good arm.

Falling on his ass, Naruto whined, "Sasuke!"

The raven snorted, tired of the blonde's antics and yet understanding Naruto's need to hide away with unfamiliar people surrounding him. It was still annoying though. "Gaara, please leave."

The red head nodded sagely and stood with an eerie grace. "I will return within the hour." He murmured, dragging Temari out with him.

"Hey! They said you, so why can't I stay?" She protested, but winked back at Sasuke.

The Uchiha just glared and waited until the door was closed before pulling the blonde back down on his lap and wrapping his good arm around the blonde's waist. "How are you really feeling?"  
"I'm fine." Naruto whispered, this was the first time either of them had received any time alone. They had discussed the fight and his idiocy, but neither had gotten time to truly check the other emotionally since the attack.

Sasuke buried his face into the crook of Naruto's neck and inhaled his scent, reassuring himself of Naruto's presence. "Don't ever do that again." He growled out, "Not to me."

"Do what again?" He asked, running his fingers through black locks. Well, he knew what state Sasuke's mind was in…possessive mode.

"Lie to me. If you're hurt, then tell me. I don't care if I'm a mother hen, but tell me when you're hurt."

He gaped, "But I was just telling you I was hurt and you hit me!"

"And I'll hit you again, you idiot." Sasuke snarled before slumping against the blonde. "Just…damn it, Naruto! I know you can take care of yourself, but I can't stop worrying. And you putting yourself in positions that are more dangerous than they need to be makes me worry more! You could've just treated the damn wound and gotten rid of the poison in the first place, but instead you ignored it. You would've died had Gaara not arrived when he did and I couldn't do anything to help you.

"I told you that night my biggest fear is losing you, so why do you keep throwing that fear in my face?" Sasuke whispered, tears beginning to sting his eyes. Damn it, Uchiha's don't cry!

"'suke…I-I'm sorry." Naruto whispered, wrapping his arms around his lover. "I'm sorry, please don't cry."

"I'm not crying." He sniffled.

Wisely keeping his mouth shut, he tightened his grip and bowed his head. He always seemed to be worrying the Uchiha and no matter how many times he promised to never do it again, he always did. "Sasuke, I'll try harder not to worry you. I promise." He whispered even though he already knew they were empty words. Sasuke's free hand clutched at his shirt and he pulled them down to stretch out on the bed. Wary of his broken wrist, Sasuke shifted onto his side and brought the blonde closer to him.

Closing his eyes, he trembled as he whispered, "Don't leave me."

Dhampir  
Page 8  
2/1/08

* * *

Ah me, oh my! Sorry, sorry everybody. This chapter was mainly dedicated to Gaara so you all know he isn't the bad guy and everything. But sorry, I have no internet and so I can get on sporadically and rarely. It sucks, trust me.

My poor reviews are dwindling too…but I understand why, so I'm not offended.

So on with it!

**Sasunarupanda**: No, I have not died. Just very tired, always sick and a wedding to plan.

**NaTsUkO-ChAn:** I'll keep trying to. I know where I'm going, it's just finding the time that's the problem.

**SakuraKissy:** Oh whoops! I'm sorry, I'll try and send you the full lemon later…damn I have to check my e-mail.

**Silver-Serval:** Thanks! And yup, I keep looking for that dosage too. No, I'm not going to kill Naruto…yet…hehehe. And Gaara really doesn't know how he feels about Naruto. It's why him and Sasuke get along, but Gaara mainly feels kind of brotherly towards Naruto, not in love with him. Yes, scary which is why I've never written that pairing.

**QUEENJJ123ABCRESPECTBABY:** Well, you might forget this story, but I don't think I'll forget that screen name. I'll send you the lemon scenes (if I have internet when I get home). But thank you!

**Seishuku Arashi:** Thank you. Yeah, don't fall behind because of me. My stories will always be here.

**Note:** If no one wants to wait for me to get around to sending them the lemon scenes. Just go adultfanfiction . net to lie about your age and find my pen name. It's still Dhampir


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I do not owner _Naruto_ nor any of the characters...except Liza, she's mine!  
**Note:** Aw hell, if you don't know this is a **sequel** by now, there's just no telling you.

* * *

**Almost Real  
**_Chapter Nine_

Both men looked up, instinctively reaching for their weapons, when their door suddenly burst open and slammed into the opposing wall. Naruto gaped as the woman responsible came storming in, not even caring that she had left cracks in the wall.

"Here I am, on vacation and enjoying myself quite thoroughly only to get called to _Suna_ of all places because two idiots—who just happen to be _Anbu Captains_—somehow end up in the hospital. Do you understand what this heat will do to my skin?" Sakura demanded, striding into the room as she glared at the two men. "You're Anbu Captains for God's sake and yet I still have to stitch your asses back together."

"Hi, Sakura-chan…you look lovely?" Naruto said meekly, staring at her slightly reddening skin and frazzled hair.

"I look lovely, do I?" She growled, slamming her medic case down on the chair Gaara had previously occupying.

"Of course! You alwa—"

"Naruto, shut up."

"What are you doing here, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, lacing his fingers with Naruto's.

"Didn't I already say I have to always stitch you two back together?" She huffed, "Tsunade-sama sent me as I've worked with you two enough that you trust me to look at your chakra systems. We both knew if anyone else was sent you two would most likely throw a fit."

"Well I wouldn't, but you know how Sasuke is." Naruto grinned, squeezing his lover's hand gently.

Laughing, Sakura shook her head and approached the couple. "Well, you _look _fine so why don't I start with Sasuke?" She asked, sliding both hands beneath the flimsy hospital shirt. Her sweaty fingertips gently touched cool skin before settling on either side of his stomach. At one point she would've loved to have such an excuse to touch alabaster skin and tone muscle, but that was a long time ago. They had been through so much she couldn't see either of them as anything more than brothers…extremely hot brothers, but brothers none the less. Focusing her chakra into her hands, she began letting it flow into his system and working through his chakra points searching for damage.

Sasuke hated this. Though familiar, his system always fought against the foreign chakra and he always had to pull it back, something he despised doing as it left him feeling defenseless. He knew Naruto felt the same and both have avoided this sort of thing as much as possible, but if Tsunade had sent her, then there was no getting out of it. Lying still and gently stroking Naruto's hand with his thumb, he watched as Sakura moved her hands up his sides, the warmth following. He could feel the trickle of chakra seeping in and fixing his damaged body, but there was nothing she could do for his broken wrist except make certain it was set correctly. It was a dangerous thing to be a medic, it placed both the medic and the patient in danger and if the medic wasn't careful, he or she could kill their patient as well as themselves. It was why most medics trained with a team and remained with that team.

Finally pulling her hands away, Sakura smiled tiredly at the Uchiha and turned to inspect Naruto. He looked perfectly fine and she was certain that was due to his rapid healing abilities, but Tsunade had told her to check over the blonde as well. It hadn't gone unnoticed by the Kazekage that he had lost control of his chakra and from what Tsunade said, this wasn't the first time either. "Naruto, lie flat on your back."

"Eh? Why are you checking me, Sakura-chan?" He asked, frowning, "I'm fine! There's nothing wrong with me in the least."

"I still need to check your chakra."

Naruto smiled, "It's fine, really."

"Get on the bed." She growled, hands on her hips.

Standing, Naruto spun in a little circle to show he hadn't a mark on him and tried again. "See? I'm perfectly fine."

"Uzumaki, get your ass on that bed now!" She snapped, pointing at the empty bed beside Sasuke's.

Eeping, Naruto quickly followed the order and pouted as Sakura pushed his shirt up and began inspecting his stomach. Placing her hands on either side of his navel, she calmed herself and began coaxing her chakra to her fingers once again. It was rare that she treated Naruto as Tsunade like to deal with the black chakra herself, but it couldn't be avoided. As Hokage, she wasn't allowed to leave Konoha unless it was a political movement or a dire emergency. The Council ruled it wasn't an emergency and Tsunade had to grudgedly agree, therefore sending her protégé in her place.

The black chakra swelled to shield its owner as Sakura tentatively reached out and Naruto quickly pushed her away, crying out as he protectively wrapped his arms around his abdomen. Sweat broke upon his brow and Naruto shook with the effort to keep the unstable chakra within him, he didn't want a blast like last time to happen again. "S-stay over there." He panted, watching warily as Sakura picked herself off the floor, but the pink haired kinouchi remained where she was.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, pushing himself out of the bed.

"What the hell is going on?" Temari yelled as she barreled into the room, hand resting on her fan. Gaara and Kankuro were close behind her, peeking over the blonde's shoulders to see just what the commotion was about.

Sasuke pulled himself out of the bed, ignoring the pain racing up his leg, and limped towards the blonde. "Naruto—"

"Stay back, Sasuke." He panted, his chakra surging forth again. Dropping to his knees, Naruto closed his eyes and focused on gathering control again, his body trembling from exertion.

Stilling, Sasuke watched as his lover whimpered in pain before the tenseness in his shoulders suddenly retreated. Hobbling closer, Sasuke knelt down and tentatively touched Naruto's cheek with his fingertips. "Naru?"

Looking up, Naruto gave the raven a tremulous smile and sighed, tilting into that scant touch. "I'm fine…" He whispered, pulling away gently and pushing himself off the floor. Standing on wobbly legs and laboriously breathing, he certainly didn't look fine, but other than being a little tired, he wasn't in any pain.

"You lost control." Gaara stated, his head cocking to the side as he studied his blonde friend.

Sakura stared down at her hands, frowning, "It reacted badly to my touch…"

"It's not you, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, his voice steady despite his shaking body. Sitting down on the bed, he grabbed the sheet and wiped the sweat off his brow. "It's me, I'm the problem."

"Why do I feel like you're breaking up with her, dobe?" Sasuke smirked, gingerly sitting down next to the blonde, but not touching him. He frowned when Naruto didn't even smile at his joke and touched his arm lightly. "Why is this happening?"

Shaking his head, the blonde bit his lip and looked at his lover. "I don't know, I really don't know. I haven't changed anything in my training or diet, so I don't understand it."

"You're going back to Konoha." He ordered, "I'll continue the mission, but you're going back to Konoha and you're seeing Tsunade-sama."

"No. I'm fine, I can continue the mission."

"You will not." Sasuke growled, eyes narrowing. "This isn't something to ignore as you have been doing, Naruto, you're going back."

Glaring, he opened his mouth to retort back, but stopped when he met Sasuke's own glare, seeing through the anger to the worry welling within those onyx eyes. Sighing, he bit his tongue and acquiesced, his gaze dropping to his lap.

"What the hell happened? Will someone explain that to me?" Temari snapped, glaring around the room.

"He lost control of his chakra." Kankuro stated, sliding into the room from behind his sister.

Huffing, she thwacked him on the head and said, "I see he lost control of his chakra, but I want to know why."

"We don't know." Sasuke answered darkly, "He's been losing control steadily since a few weeks ago."

Sakura growled, "And you let him go on a mission?"

"He said he was fine." He growled back, narrowing his eyes in displeasure. He was already scolding himself for that stupid move, he didn't need someone else pointing out his mistakes as well.

"Right, this is the boy who's been tortured and still claims he's fine. I can't believe you didn't drag him to the Hokage."

"I was going to, but he said he had it under control and there was no need to worry Hokage-sama if we didn't have to. I warned him when he came that if I didn't feel he was up to the mission that he would be sent home and he is being sent home."

"But still—"

"Both of you stop it." Naruto snapped, his voice demanding despite its quiet volume. "I'll go back to see Baa-chan, but I refuse to allow Sasuke to continue his mission alone."

"Sakura is going back with you, in case something happens on the journey back." The raven stated, his own tone not allowing any arguments on the matter.

"Then who will accompany you?"

--_I will_.-- Came the booming voice, echoing within each of their heads. --_You needn't fear, kit, I'll protect the whelp._--

"Kyuubi!" Naruto growled, "Stop with the theatricals and get your ass in here so I can kick it out."

--_Oh, but I was having such fun!_-- The great demon fox whined, the pout evident in his voice.

"Oh shut up, you old coot."

--_Coot? Coot! I'll have you know I'm _fox_, you idiot! And I'm not _old_!--_

"Excuse me, could someone explain to me why I'm hearing a voice in my head?" Kankuro asked.

"Huh? Oh, that's just Kyuubi being an ass."

--_I'm a fox! Not a coot, not an ass and certainly not old. Why is it so hard for you to understand that I'm a fox?--_

"You're like six thousand years old, you're old!" Naruto argued, stomping his foot impatiently.

--_Kit, I will kill you.--_ Kyuubi growled.

"No you won't."

Sasuke sighed, if the damn fox was so old, why couldn't he just act his age? "Kyuubi, where are you?"

--_Outside the town, I didn't want to cause havoc by entering in…I do have quite a few people staring at me though.--_

Turning on his heel, Gaara exited the infirmary without even waiting to see who followed him and barely stepped onto the sand before a ninja appeared before him.

"Gaara-sama!" The young Chuunin cried out, landing gracefully beside the red head.

"I know, leave the fox alone." He stated, walking passed the ninja to meet Kyuubi.

"Hey Gaara!" Naruto yelled, catching up to him, "Kyuubi's harmless, so don't anger him, okay?"

The redhead snorted, "I know."

"Oh, okay…then come on!" He laughed, running ahead of them as he went to meet his life friend.

"Dobe! Didn't we just discuss how you were going to take it easy! Stop running and get your ass back here." Sasuke yelled, sprinting after the blonde despite his broken wrist.

"Oh, I'm the idiot, but I'm not the one running around with broken bones!" Naruto snapped back, but still slowed until his lover caught up to him.

Smacking him upside the head, Sasuke grabbed the blonde's hand with his good arm and scowled. "Just shut up."

"Why is everyone telling me to shut up today?" He pouted.

"Uzumaki, shut up." Gaara said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the couple.

"See?! It's unfair."

--_Kit, I can hear you clearly from where I stand! I'm amazed the entire village isn't telling you to shut up_.--

"Oh, that's it!" Huffing, Naruto dragged Sasuke out of the village to where the large black fox stood. Puffing his cheeks out, he smacked the fox on the muzzle and then stuck his tongue out. "Baka fox!"

--_What the hell, kit!--_ Kyuubi roared, rubbing his abused muzzle with his paw. Glaring, the fox fanned his tails and growled, showing his long canines. --_You will pay, you damned human._--

"Will you both shut up?" Sasuke snapped, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his good hand. "You're giving me a headache."

Wrapping his arms around his disgruntled lover, Naruto kissed his forehead and nuzzled his neck. "I'll make it go away."

"How are you going to make it go away? You caused it."

"Sasuke!" He cried.

_--Oh, stop being so melodramatic, kit_.--

"No wonder they're all insane." Temari whispered, watching the three interact.

"Oh hey!" Naruto turned to Sakura, "Where's Liza?"

The pink kinouchi gaped, "You just noticed?"

"What?" He asked, staring innocently at her.

"She's with Hinata-san," She sighed, rolling her eyes, "I couldn't possibly take her with me and it would certainly be irresponsible of me to leave her by herself."

--_At least someone of them is responsible…--_ Kyuubi muttered, curling his lip up in a smirk as two glares descended upon him.

"And that reminds me…" Naruto said, smacking the fox on the muzzle again. "That's what you get for just leaving a kid with us! Baka, baka fox!"

--_Stop hitting me!_--

"Stop being idiotic!"

--_I can't help it, I lived inside you for eighteen years, something had to rub off.--_

"Oh yeah, blame it on me."

--_I will. Before you I was the most powerful demon in existence, I had wisdom beyond any other creature's capacity and then I was sealed inside of you_—--

"Right, you were sealed inside of me. What powerful demon that has 'wisdom beyond any other creature's capacity' would get sealed inside a mere human?"

_--Oh, shut up.--_

"I've tried saying that already, it doesn't work." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Are they always like this?" Sakura asked, looking back and forth between the bickering men…demons…idiots.

"Yes." He felt like crying, he just wanted to break down where he stood and cry at the stupidity of it all. But, of course, as an Uchiha, he would not. He'd already cried once today, damned if he was going to do it again in this lifetime.

"Oh yeah, Kyuubi, why haven't I ever seen your human form?" Naruto suddenly asked, stopping mid-rant. "Is it that you can't?"

_--I can, I just don't_.--

"Why not? It would've been easier to travel that way."

--_Because I don't like it.--_

Naruto rolled his eyes, "More like you can't do it."

--_I can too!--_

"Sure."

--_I'm Kyuubi no Kitsune, I can damn well pass for a human if I wanted to, but after living inside of you for eighteen years, I certainly don't want to be!--_ He growled.

"Whatever you tell yourself."

Anger causing his tails to fan out once more, Kyuubi licked his lips, --_Fine I'll show you, you damned brat!--_ Closing his eyes, he wrapped his tails around him and concentrated on his human form, making it more of a show than he had to. He could turn into a human in a second, but if he wanted to have clothes on he had to take a little bit more time.

The group stared as black chakra began surrounding the fox until Kyuubi could no longer be seen. The sudden influx of chakra brought many of Suna's ninjas to the gates, but Gaara held them back with a single wave of his hand. The chakra cocoon slowly lessened in size, but kept its intensity until it slowly began to disappear leaving behind a young looking man where the fox once stood.

"Holy shit…" Naruto whispered, staring at the man. Had he not been so utterly devoted to Sasuke, he would've shamelessly thrown himself at Kyuubi. Black sandaled feet lightly set down on the sand and tight black pants started just above the ankle and ended just above the apex of his legs. The vest he wore left his chest open for appraisal and even Sasuke had to admit the taunt stomach and well defined abs were certainly arousing. His skin wasn't as tan as Naruto's nor was it the deathly pale white of Sasuke's, but a light honey color that that certainly looked to be well balanced across his entire body.

Black hair fluttered down as the last of the chakra dispersed and settled in straight rivulets over his shoulders and halfway down his back. The silky tresses moved across his skin like water and Kyuubi raised a hand to move a lock behind his shoulder, scowling at the offending thing. Crossing his arms over his chest and absently flexing his biceps, Kyuubi turned his scowl towards the onlookers and glared, his blue eyes flashing with annoyance. "What?"

"Fuck…" Naruto murmured, trying to ignore the dull throbbing of his erection beginning to strain against his pants. Hearing Kyuubi in his head was one thing, hear that husky baritone with his own ears was certainly another. That voice was sex and that body screamed "I am so going to fuck you until you can't walk", Naruto was pretty certain the fox would never submit to bottoming.

Every person present was staring at him in awe, only Gaara's stiff command to remain where they stood kept most of the ninjas from ransacking the sexy demon. Of course, if they knew he was a demon they might change their minds…but some part of him doubted that. Kyuubi tapped black nails against his bare arm, "What the hell is your problem? See, this is why I hate this form!"

"Because you look like walking sex?" Naruto said, "That's not a bad thing, Kyuubi."

The fox-turned-human snorted and approached the blonde, his movements graceful even though he was stomping closer to his ex-prison. "Do you see this?" He asked, grabbing a fistful of black strands.

"Uh…yeah."

"This is so ugly! I used to have the most beautiful red hair and my eyes were a deep golden hue that none could forget them, I'm a fucking fire demon after all! How can I look like this? I look like you and the Uchiha's child, for God's sake!"

Whatever erection either lover sported was soon lost at that thought. Both looked at the demon in a new light and found his words to be true. He had Sasuke's raven locks and height while holding Naruto's suppleness and sapphire eyes, not to mention practically hairless body. "Well, don't you know how to just kill the mood…" Naruto pouted, suddenly disgusted at being turned on by their 'child'.

"How did I come to this?" Kyuubi almost wailed, "I used to be gorgeous, no one could refuse me and I had many lovers, my beauty was known throughout the regions, I even enjoyed being human and now I look like _this._"

"Hey! I happen to like how our child looks." Naruto smirked, "You'll always be beautiful to me, Kyuu-kun."

Growling, Kyuubi launched himself at the blonde, pinning him easily to the ground, "If you ever call me that again, I will make certain you will never be able to cum again. Got it?"

Naruto smiled and nodded, slightly sweating as he thought just what the demon would do to him if it struck his fancy.

Smirking, he stood and wiped the sand off his pants. "Has everyone had their fill of gawking at me yet?" He asked sarcastically to the group still drooling over him.

Gaara was the first to recover and immediately turned on his heel and walked back into the village, his ninjas slowly and mournfully following their leader. The red head was certain if the fox remained in that form, he would have a list of bedding partners by the end of the night, his sister and brother included in that if he guessed correctly from the looks they were sending the poor demon.

"Uh…" Sakura stuttered, continuing to gape, "Kyuubi-san, I must admit that you are one of the most gorgeous men I have ever seen. I don't think there's a single person here who thinks you're even the slightest bit unattractive."

"Oh really," he purred, eyes lowering to half mast and turning them towards Naruto. "Then you wouldn't mind spending the night with me tonight, would you Naru-chan?"

The blonde smiled cheekily even as a blush worked its way up to his face. "Had you asked me that ten minutes ago, we'd be having a threesome on the sand, but as it goes…I just can't imagine having sex with someone who looks like my and Sasuke's child. Sorry, but that's a major turn off, no matter how hot you are."

"You'd drag me into a threesome without even asking me, dobe?" Sasuke asked, glaring at the two idiots.

"Would you honestly deny _that?_" He retorted, pointing at the demon.

Sasuke smirked, "I don't know, possibly, but we'll never find that out, will we?" Grabbing Naruto's arm, he turned and began dragging the blonde into the village, "Now, I don't know about you, but I haven't had sex in over a week and I demand some attention from a certain cute blonde."

"What blonde?! Who is he? Is it that bastard Shin again? Did he dye his hair blonde this time around?" Naruto ranted, "If it is, I'll kick both your asses, you bastard!"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke found his sex drive once more dropping to non-existent. "Never mind you idiot. I should've just said I want some attention from a blonde dobe!"

"Oh. You were talking about me? Well, I guess I could be coerced into entertaining you…" He whispered huskily, his libido suddenly spiking since losing it after Kyuubi's announcement.

"No, forget it. I don't want any entertainment; you ruined the mood, baka."

"What?! Oh, come on Sasuke. I can get you back into the mood."

"No."

"But Sasuke! You already woke him up; he won't go to sleep again unless we play with him!"

Sasuke stopped and stared at his lover, wondering just when he fell in love with the idiot. "Play with him yourself."

"B-but its better if you join in and I know you could use the exercise." He tried again, running the tips of his fingers tantalizingly up his boyfriend's spine.

"No, I just want to sleep."

"Sleep! But you slept all night!"

"Not all of us can heal in a couple hours, I'm tired and I want to sleep." He snapped, glaring at the blonde, but it had no affect on him.

Naruto pondered quietly for a moment, following his lover into their room before suddenly wrapping his arms around the raven's waist and whispering gutturally, "Well then…how 'bout I help you get to sleep?"

Turning to protest, Sasuke suddenly lost all thoughts of coherence and submitted to the blonde's wiles as pleasure coursed through his entire body. "I…I guess I could use some help…" He groaned, closing his eyes and abandoning himself into his lover's waiting arms.

Dhampir  
Page 8  
3/11/08

* * *

Okay, I know someone is going to start screaming that I've updated a story in less than six months, but hey, I actually had some time between working and wedding shit.

Anyway, don't expect this to be a normalcy, I'd hate to disappoint everyone when I disappear for a couple months again.

And I'm now 22 years old! And friends with a dozen people who aren't even emancipated adults yet...does that make me a pedophile?

**Okay...and now on to the reviews!**

**Michelerene:** Aw thanks, I thought it was touching too, I guess I'm a romantic at heart, but I like to see people suffer first.

**QUEENJJ123ABCRESPECTBABY:** Damn it, sorry I forgot to send you the lemon scenes. My advice is go to Adultfanfiction (dot) net and look up my name there, it's the same s/n. It's easier and faster than trying to get me to send it via e-mail to you. I will try to remember though, just keep getting on me until I do it…

**NaTsUkO-ChAn:** Is it Sasuke's turn to get really hurt? Um…it's both their turns, hehe. I do have something special planned for Sasuke though, just because I love him so much. Of course, Itachi is better…Itachi is always better.

**Kuroi Neko Kami:** Yes, there are lemon scenes…but I don't post them on FF because apparently _I_ get in trouble for them and almost get kicked off the site while others get away with posting them. I really don't get it…but you can look me up on Adultfanfiction (dot) net and find my penname to get the sex scenes.

**BoREdom mAnIFEsT:** Yes, I'm getting married. I'm marrying into the Crockett family, his uncle was Davy Crockett…and no, I'm not naming my son Davy either, I refuse to put him through such humiliation. Liza will be showing up in a chapter or two and Sakura has made her entrance, as you saw.

**Silver-Serval:** I haven't decided if they're leaving Suna yet or not. And yes, you are correct, there is always moisture in the air and surrounding ground, it's how plants grow in the desert, but you have to remember that just because there's enough water in the air and ground for plants to grow, it isn't enough water to support a person, let alone a village. When water begins to disappear from the atmosphere, rain decreases drastically and then you end up with places like the Sahara Desert and most of Australia, animals can live there, but not people. If you draw a picture, I want to see it! I can't draw…at all, I mean not even a straight line or a stick figure, so I always appreciate people who can draw. 

**oOlittlehandsOo:** You better love me! Hehe, kidding, kidding.

**Ch3l:** Thanks…I just hope you didn't get in trouble for reading all day. I hate it when people tell me they turned something in late or they failed a test because they were reading my stories. Hehe, but thank you! I hope you liked this chapter as well.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It lifts my spirit to see them, as I'm sure you all know.


	10. Notice

**THIS IS A TEASER FOR CHAPTER 16 of "Through Foxes Eyes"**

**EXPLAINATION BELOW**

**(I'm Posting this to all stories, even if this is for the wrong story!!)**

A high pitched yowl broke through the jeering crowd as the guards pulled the defenseless child behind them. Stopping in the center of the village's court The Council stood to Kitsune's right while the crowd of people surrounded his left and flank, the guards blocking anything that was possibly in front of him.

The manacles they had placed around his wrists burned and his incessant pulling had chafed the sensitive skin to where they bled. Tears tracking down his face, the blonde pulled against the Anbu guards, two of them snickering at his feeble attempts while the third kept his back turned to him.

"I have done what was asked of me, the demon child has proven to be a threat and I have brought him before the Council as ordered." The Anbu said, his voice loud and booming over the crowd. "I wash my hands of this." Turning, he walked away and disappeared into the swarm of people, not even looking back once to see the crying boy crumpling to the stoned ground.

"This isn't like you." Someone said, grabbing his arm firmly.

Looking over his shoulder, he glared at the taller shinobi, jerking his arm out of the silver haired man's grip. "I won't kill an innocent child, but I won't stop them from killing a demon, Kakashi."

"He was in control, the Kyuubi hadn't broken free."

"He was using chakra."

"If using chakra makes us demons, then we are all condemned."

The Anbu looked over Kakashi's shoulder at the young dark haired boy standing not far from them. "You're that boy from earlier." He said, dark gray eyes sliding over to Kakashi once more, "I see you went to get help, why?"

"If anyone gets to kill that idiot, it should be me." Sasuke said, glaring at the Anbu Captain.

Shaking his head, the man began to chuckle before it slowly turned into boisterous laughter, "You think you can kill a demon, boy? Have you even killed someone before?"

"Actually, he has three kills and a successful completion of a B-ranked mission already. He's only been a genin for a few months as well, so…" Kakashi shrugged, looking over his shoulder to where Kitsune lay panting on the ground. "And does he look like a demon to you? All I see is a boy who has a past more horrible than most."

"I did as I was ordered, nothing more and nothing less." He answered, his voice cold as he stared at the blonde child. "I'll have no other part in this, so leave me be." Glaring at Kakashi, he spun on his heel and disappeared once more into the throng of people.

Sighing, the silver nin turned to survey the situation, his eye picking up the strategically placed shinobi who were in hiding in case the child broke free. It was rare for him to be serious, but he couldn't find any amusement in their predicament nor could he find any escape for Kitsune. Either they would be killed on sight for trying to help the blonde or they would be tried with him as conspirators, thus being killed later. So it was a choice of dying now or in a few hours…

* * *

Tsunade growled deep in her throat, the veins in her forehead pulsating in anger, all because the damn pervert got knocked out once more for his lewd remarks. "How does he live like this?" She huffed, carrying the large man on her back.

"I'm certain the women he usually accompanies aren't as strong as you, Tsunade-sama." Shizune answered with a smile.

"This is the fifth time! You'd think he'd have learned his lesson and I wouldn't have to keep carrying his sorry ass."

"You don't have to knock him unconscious every time, Tsunade-sama."

The blonde glared, hefting the male higher on her back. "It's the only way to get him to shut up."

Shizune chuckled, smiling at the two as they continued towards Konoha. They probably would've already reached the village if the two old comrades could stop arguing for a few minutes, but it seemed as natural to them as breathing. They had been traveling on the road for over a week now and Jiraiya still hadn't learned his lesson…she was beginning to wonder if all the fists to his head were causing brain damage. In the least they certainly seemed to be causing short term amnesia as the man would awaken and immediately make some comment about Tsunade's body or chest.

"GAH!" The blonde suddenly screamed, flipping Jiraiya off her back and into the ground one handed. "You fucking pervert!" Shoving her foot into his chest, she stepped over him and fumed down the trail, muttering, "I'm starting to think he's doing this on purpose so he can cop a feel, damn pervert."

Sniggering, Shizune watched as the Sannin picked himself up off the ground and gave her a sheepish smile before following after the blonde. "What can I say? I'm a masochist." He said, winking at her from over his shoulder.

Snorting her laughter, she watched as the two of them argued as he tried to get into her good graces in all the wrong ways. Fondly smiling, she heaved her bag to the other shoulder and started trekking after them, wondering just what was going to happen next.

* * *

Okay everybody, I'm having a bit of problems...no, not with writing the story though I do have a few ideas of what I want to happen and how, but that's not what this is for.

I would just do a Note, but you can have your account deleted for this, so here's a teaser and now my note:

**I am getting very, VERY ticked off with fanfiction. Not just the site, but the people:**

**1. **_I receive on average, at least two to three e-mails a month about people plagiarizing my stories._

I know people receive story ideas from reading other people's stories, but this is ridiculous. And to top it off, these are people who are e-mailing ME for the cut lemon scenes and then posting them as their own in their stories.

This absolutely unacceptable! If you see someone who is plagiarizing, even if we don't own the characters it's still our ideas, then it's your responsibility to report them. And if you're one of the plagiarizers, then get the fuck off my shit. (See? I'm mad, I never cuss, just my characters)

I do thank those who did e-mail me though, I do appreciate. Please report them as well though and possibly leave them a review knowing they've been ousted. Nothing mean, just let them know.

**2. **This brings me to my next point: I've read quite a few stories with lemon scenes in them, from handjobs to full out orgy sex scenes and these people don't get threatened with having their stories and accounts deleted. I've got a few stories (rated MATURE), with warnings and I still cut out those scenes and yet I've been given to citations for a quick handjob that doesn't even get to completion.

**3.** The formatting with fanfiction is ticking me off. I can't put paragraph spaces in because it takes them away and using the damn thingy is just annoying. Plus after I check everything out, it'll still put two paragraphs together and squish words together.

So, what does this all mean? I'm going to try to deal with it, but if I find more people who keep copying my stories, then I'm going to be removing all my stories from this site and opening my own to host my stories.

I'm sorry for the delay, but I've been so ticked off lately I haven't even felt like writing.

If it continues, then this story will end: Naruto's executed, Sasuke gets depressed, Tsunade becomes Hokage and everyone else is happy. Because right now I don't feel like working on this very much.

Sorry all! That's not the story end--yet--just a bit of warning for you plagiarizers that do enjoy reading my stories. See? Someone always spoils it for everyone else.

--Dhampir


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